Facts: The plaintiff, a woman, accepted an offer of a lift from the defendant, a young man. They drove off in his van. The defendant offered the plaintiff money for sexual favours. When she refused and demanded that he stop so she could get out, the defendant accelerated and said "I am going to take you to my mate's house. He will really fix you up". To avoid this threat the plaintiff jumped out of the moving car, sustaining injuries.
Issue: Had the plaintiff been in fear of imminent (immediate) harm?
Decision: The court held that the defendant's threat was imminent. Even though it referred to future violence, the plaintiff reasonably believed that the violence would take place as soon as her unlawful imprisonment ended.
Reason: The threatened conduct was immediate enough for the defendant's statements to be an assault. Even though the statements referred to conduct that would happen at an unspecified later time, the plaintiff was at the defendant’s mercy, making the threats effectively imminent. White J said (at 13, 17):
"In the case presently before me there was undoubtedly an unlawful imprisonment. The question is whether there were present, in addition, all the elements of the crime of assault … The young woman here reasonably believed in the defendant’s intention and power to inflict violence in due course with the help of his ‘mate’. "