Where the lawfulness of an arrest is in issue in a charge of aggravated assault on a police officer, the trial judge must clearly direct the jury that the arrest is unlawful if the officer did not inform the arrestee of the reason for arrest, and that this is relevant both to the aggravating circumstance (officer acting in course of duty) and to unlawful arrest self-defence under s 15(3)(b) and (4) of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA). The judge must not conflate the issue of gratuitous violence with the separate issue of failure to state the reason for arrest. Separate verdicts should be taken on the substantive offence and the aggravating circumstance.
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