to the person, but in the law of torts the actual application of force to the person is not an assault but a battery. [Kodilinye] Usually both Torts of Assault and Battery are committed in rapid succession, and in common parlance the word `assault' is frequently used as including a battery. The elements making up the Tort of Assault are: (a) act (b) causes another person (c) reasonably to apprehend immediate violence. Damage is not an element that must be proved in order to succeed in an action
79 for assault. Even in the absence of damage an action may be brought and nominal damages awarded. Professor Winfield understands Battery as the intentional & direct application of force to another person. The Tort of Assault is an act of the Defendant which causes the Plaintiff reasonable apprehension of the infliction of a battery on him by the Defendant. Words accompanying a menacing gesture may negative its appearance of being an assault. For instance where the Defendant Y , who whilst in a moving vehicle, and with no chance of reaching at X , threatens x . Here no Assault will be established because there is no possibility of infliction of any harm on the complainant X . An Assault means any act which puts the Plaintiff in fear that a battery is about to be committed against him. While the essence of assault is the threat of force, battery is an act which actually inflicts unlawful force on another person. The degree of force involved
