A plea of guilty to affray does not amount to an admission of assault and battery of a particular person in subsequent civil proceedings, nor does it establish that the defendant was acting in concert with others as a joint tortfeasor for the purpose of civil liability. The elements of affray (unlawful fighting calculated to terrify bystanders) are distinct from the elements of assault and battery and from the requirements for joint tortfeasor liability (concerted action to a common end). When assessing whether a defendant has a defence on the merits for the purpose of setting aside a default judgment, the court should not assess whether the defence will succeed but only whether an arguable defence has been raised.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 28 later cases that cite this judgment.
2 of the 28 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.