A footballer tackled another one in such a way that he caused serious injury to V’s leg. The judge directed that if the tackle had not been done by way of legitimate sport, then he could be convicted of GBH. He was convicted. CA allowed his appeal on the grounds that most sports had their own disciplinary procedures and that in the heat of the moment it was quite possible to go beyond the rules. The jury would need to ask themselves, among other questions, whether the contact was so obviously late and/or violent that it could not be regarded as an instinctive reaction, error or misjudgement in the heat of the game. If a player was to bring criminal proceedings, then the harm they suffered would have to be above and beyond what they would normally expect to suffer during the course of a game.
