Public Order Act 1986, s 3(1)

Affray

The statutory wording, points to prove, defences and penalty — verified against legislation.gov.uk (current revised versions, July 2026).

What the law says

A person is guilty of affray if he uses or threatens unlawful violence towards another and his conduct is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety.

CJS codes
Official CJS offence index (March 2026)
—Charged under the specific underlying offence code.

Points to prove

  • 1. used/threatened unlawful violence towards another
  • 2. and their conduct was such as would cause
  • 3. a person of reasonable firmness to fear for personal safety

Defences

  • No specific standalone defence was extracted from the source text; consider any applicable statutory defence, reasonable excuse, lawful authority, self-defence, necessity, consent, identification challenge, or other common-law defence on the facts.

Mode of trial & maximum penalty

Either way — Summary: 6/12 months' imprisonment and/or a fine; Indictment: 3 years' imprisonment

Reference only — verify against current legislation and force policy before charge. Spotted an error? Tell us.

Sources

  • Verified dataset — legislation.gov.uk (current revised versions)

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