Battery in Victoria requires direct physical interference with the plaintiff's person; a claim for nervous shock by a family member who was not present when the battery was committed and whose body was not directly interfered with cannot be maintained in battery. The Wilkinson v Downton tort does not extend to distant victims who were not present when the tortious act occurred. In assessing aggravated and exemplary damages in police assault cases, a defendant officer should not be held liable for the post-incident conduct of other more senior officers, and a defendant's statement that they would act the same way again should not be treated as evidence of recidivism justifying specific deterrence.
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