What Sentence Do Assault Injuries Carry if It's My First Offence? (2026)

It is one of the first questions for anyone facing the criminal courts for the first time after a fight or an altercation: what sentence do assault injuries carry if it's my first offence? The answer is more reassuring than people usually fear. As assault and bodily harm defence lawyers, we explain it step by step.

The Penalties Under Art. 147 CP

Article 147 of the Spanish Criminal Code is the basic provision for the offence of bodily harm, and it draws three distinct scenarios by seriousness:

• Art. 147.1 — Injury with medical treatment: the injury objectively requires, in addition to first aid, medical or surgical treatment. Penalty: prison of 3 months to 3 years, or a fine of 6 to 12 months.
• Art. 147.2 — Minor injury (minor offence): the injury needs no treatment. Penalty: a fine of 1 to 3 months.
• Art. 147.3 — Battery: striking or mistreating another without causing injury. Penalty: a fine of 1 to 2 months.

One point is worth keeping in mind: in its basic form, the prison penalty starts at 3 months, not at some high figure. And for a person with no record, the range that is actually considered sits well below the legal maximum.

The Threshold That Decides Everything: Treatment vs. First Aid

What separates an offence from a mere minor offence is whether the injury needed only first aid or, in addition, medical treatment. Art. 147.1 itself makes clear that "mere monitoring or medical follow-up of the course of the injury shall not be considered medical treatment".

Case law treats stitches, plaster immobilisation, the reduction of a fracture or a prescribed rehabilitation regime as treatment. An initial dressing, observation or painkillers for the discomfort are not. This distinction can turn a less serious offence (with possible prison) into a minor offence punished only with a fine, and it is argued through the forensic medical report. It is no small nuance: it is often the very heart of the defence.

No Record: Suspension Under Art. 80 CP

This is the crux of the question. Article 80 of the Criminal Code allows the court to suspend the execution of prison sentences not exceeding two years where it is reasonable to expect that the offender will not reoffend. The first statutory condition is precisely that the convicted person has offended for the first time.

In practice, this means that a first conviction for bodily harm under art. 147.1, which normally sits well below two years, does not usually lead to actual imprisonment. The court sets a suspension period (of 2 to 5 years, art. 81) during which it is enough not to reoffend and to comply with the conditions imposed. In assessing suspension, the court also weighs the circumstances of the act, the personal circumstances of the offender and, very particularly, their effort to repair the harm caused to the victim.

Fast-Track Trial and Plea Agreement

Many injuries arising from fights or altercations are processed through a fast-track trial, a procedure designed for simple, easily proven facts that allows the matter to be resolved within a few weeks. In that framework, the plea agreement takes centre stage: if the accused admits the facts before trial, the penalty can be reduced by one third.

That reduction has a very concrete effect when it is your first offence: it helps bring the penalty below the 2-year threshold and, with it, makes the suspension under art. 80 easier. That said, a plea agreement means admitting the offence, so it is only advisable when conviction is foreseeable and there is no solid route to acquittal or downgrading to a minor offence. It is a strategic decision to be weighed with your lawyer, not an automatic step.

A Hypothetical Example

Imagine a person with no record who, in an argument outside a venue, punches another and causes a nasal fracture requiring reduction and follow-up care: there is medical treatment, so the facts fall under art. 147.1. There were no weapons and no aggravating factors, so art. 148 does not apply.

If they decide to admit the facts in the fast-track trial, the penalty is reduced by the plea agreement and, adding repair of the harm through compensation to the victim as a mitigating factor, the foreseeable outcome is a short prison sentence that the court suspends on account of it being a first offence. A realistic result: a conviction, yes, but without entering prison, subject to not reoffending during the suspension period. Every case is different, and the outcome depends on the forensic report, the aggravating factors and the dynamics of the events.