SQE1 sample questions

Question 59

A man is walking along a street when a woman runs towards him shouting loudly and waving her arms. The man is confused by what the woman is shouting, but genuinely believes that the woman is about to attack him. A reasonable person in the man’s position would not have believed that the woman was about to attack him.

As the woman approaches the man, the man pushes her to the chest with both hands, causing her to stumble backwards. The force he used to push her would have been reasonable if the man were being attacked. The woman is shocked and angry, but not injured. The woman explains to the man that she was trying to warn him about some roof tiles that were falling from a nearby building.

A police officer sees the incident and the man is arrested and subsequently charged with common assault. The man intends to rely at court on the defence that he acted in self-defence when he pushed the woman.

Which of the following best explains whether the man can rely on self-defence?

A. He cannot rely on self-defence, because he pushed the woman before being physically attacked by her.

B. He cannot rely on self-defence, because his belief that the woman was about to attack him was unreasonable.

C. He cannot rely on self-defence, because his belief that the woman was about to attack him was mistaken.

D. He can rely on self-defence, because he believed that the woman was about to attack him and the amount of force he used was reasonable.

E. He can rely on self-defence, because he believed that the woman was about to attack him and he did not cause unreasonable harm to the woman.