4A.—(1) A person who intentionally or recklessly causes serious harm to another by suffocating or strangling the other shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for life or to both.

(3) A person charged with an offence under subsection (1) may, if the evidence does not warrant a conviction for that offence but warrants a conviction for an offence under section 4, be found guilty of an offence under section 4.

(4) In this section, "strangle" and "suffocate" have the meanings they have in section 3A (inserted by section 21 of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023).]