Grievous Bodily Harm
To constitute a "wound" under the Ordinance, the continuity of the skin must be broken. In other words, the whole of the outer covering of the body (that is, the entire skin, and not merely the epidermis or the cuticle) must be severed. The mere rupture of an internal blood vessel is not sufficient to constitute a "wound"—there must be a break in the continuity of the whole skin.
"Grievous bodily harm" is to be given its ordinary and natural meaning, namely really serious bodily harm, and no further attempt at definition should be made.
Bodily harm includes psychiatric injury, but the psychiatric harm must reach the level of a clinically recognisable psychiatric illness. Mere emotions such as fear, distress or panic are not in themselves sufficient.
There is no statutory list of what constitutes grievous bodily harm. Whether the injuries in a particular case amount to grievous bodily harm is a question of fact. In one Hong Kong case, the court held that grievous bodily harm does not require the injury to be permanent or dangerous; it is sufficient that the injury seriously interferes with the health or comfort of the victim.
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