## Facts

- A parish meeting was held with Stephens presiding as chairman at the head of a table; Myers sat at the same table with several people between them.
- During an angry discussion, Myers repeatedly interrupted and was vociferous.
- The meeting voted by a large majority to have Myers removed.
- Myers stated he would rather pull the chairman out of the chair than be removed.
- Immediately thereafter, Myers advanced toward Stephens with a clenched fist in a manner witnesses perceived as intending to strike.
- A churchwarden intervened and stopped Myers before he came within actual striking distance.
- Stephens sued Myers in trespass for assault; Myers pleaded not guilty.

## Issues

1. Whether an assault occurs when a defendant advances in a threatening manner with intent to strike but is stopped by a third party before reaching striking distance.
2. Whether civil assault requires the defendant to have actual present ability to inflict contact at the exact moment of the threatened act.

## Decision

- Verdict for Stephens, with nominal damages of one shilling.
- The court instructed that not every threat constitutes assault without the means to carry it into effect.
- The jury could find assault if Myers advanced in a threatening attitude intending to strike such that the blow would have reached Stephens almost immediately but for being stopped.
- The court rejected the view that lack of literal striking range at the moment of restraint necessarily defeats assault.

## Legal Principles

- Civil assault requires more than words alone; there must be conduct indicating a threat of immediate force with an apparent capacity to carry it out.
- A threatening advance with intent to strike may constitute assault even if physical contact is prevented, where the blow would have followed almost at once absent intervention.
- The inquiry focuses on imminence and apparent ability in context, not on a frozen-in-time measurement of reach at the instant of restraint.

## Conclusion

The case confirms that civil assault can be established by a menacing, intentional advance that would have resulted in immediate physical contact but for third-party intervention, even though the defendant was not yet within exact striking distance when stopped.


Stephens v. Myers, 172 Eng. Rep. 735 (K.B. 1830)