Arson Flashcards
Arson danger to life
(Act & Section)
Section 267(1)(a), Crimes Act 1961
Arson 267(1)(a)
(elements)
Section 267(1)(a)
- intentionally or recklessly
- damages by fire or damages my means of any explosive
- any property
- if he/she knows or ought to know that danger to life is likely to ensue
Arson no interest
(Act & Section)
Section 267(1)(b), Crimes Act 1961
Arson 267(1)(b)
(elements)
- intentionally or recklessly
- without claim of right
- damages by fire or damages by means of any explosive
- any immovable property or vehicle or ship or aircraft
- in which that person has no interest
Arson obtain benifit/cause loss
(Act & Section)
Section 267(1)(c), Crimes Act 1961
Arson 267(1)(c)
(elements)
- intentionally
- damages by fire or damages by means of any explosive
- any immovable property or vehicle or ship or aircraft
- with intent to obtain any benifit or to cause loss to any other person.
Arson other property
(Act & Section)
Section 267(2)(a), Crimes Act 1961
Arson Section 267(2)(a)
(elements)
- intentionally or recklessly
- without claim or right
- damages by fire or damages by means of any explosive
- any property (other than in s(1))
- in which that person has no interest
Arson other property for benifit/cause loss
(Act & Section)
Section 267(2)(b), Crimes Act 1961
Arson Section 267(2)(b)
(elements)
- intentionally or recklessly
- damages by fire or damages by means of any explosive
- any property (other than in s(1))
- with intent to obtain any benefit or cause loss to any other person
Arson reckless
(Act & Section)
Section 267(3), Crimes Act 1961
Arson Section 267(3)
(elements)
- intentionally
- damages by fire or damages by means of any explosive
- any property
- with reckless disregard for the safety of any other property.
Intent (define)
- a deliberate act
- intent to get a specific result
Deliberate act:
“Intent” means that act or omission must be done deliberately. The act or omission must be more than involuntary or accidental
Intent to produce a result:
The second type of intent is an intent to produce a specific result. In this context result means “aim, object, or purpose”
Intent (case law)
R v Collister
Intent (R v Collister held)
Circumstantial evidence from which an offender’s intent may be inferred can include:
- the offender’s actions and words before, during, and after the event
- the surrounding circumstamces
- the nature of the act itself
Recklessness (case law)
Cameron v R
Recklessness
(Cameron v R held)
Recklessness is established if:
(a) the defendant recognized that there was a real possibility that:
(i) his or her actions would bring about the proscribed result; and/or
(ii) that the proscribed circumstances existed; and
(b) having regard to that risk those actions were unreasonable.
Recklessness subjective
(case law)
R v Tipple
Recklessness (R v Tipple held)
The concept is subjective in that it requires that the offender know of, or have a conscious appreciation of the relevant risk, and it may be said that it requires “a deliberate decision to run the risk”.
Damage Case law
R v Archer
Damage (R v Archer held)
Property may be damaged if it suffers permanent or temporary physical harm or permanent or temporary impartment of its use or value.
Damage by fire (Define)
Will often involve burning or charring, it is not necessary that it is set alight; melting, blistering of paint or significant smoke damage may be sufficient.
Explosive Definition (Section 2(a), Arms Act)
Means any substance or mixture or combination of substances which in its normal state is capable of decomposition at such rapid rate as to result in an explosion or of producing a pyrotechnic effect; and
Explosive Definition (Section 2(b), Arms Act 1983)
List
Without limiting paragraph (a) of this definition, includes
- gunpowder
- nitroglycerin
- dynamite
- gun-cotton
- blasting powder
- fulminate of mercury or of other metals
- colored flares
- fog signals
- fuses
- rockets
- percussion caps
- detonators
- cartridges
- ammunition of all descriptions; and
Explosive definition (Section 2(c), Arms Act 1983)
Without limiting paragraph (a) or (b), includes any device, contrivance, or article, which uses any substance or mixture or combination of substances to which paragraph (a) or (b) applies as an integral part of it for the purpose of producing and explosion or a ballistic or pyrotechnic effect; but does not include a firearm; and
Explosive definition (Section 2(d), Arms Act 1983)
Does not include any firework as defined in Section 2 of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996
Property (Define)
Property includes real and personal property, and any estate or interest in any real or personal property, [money, electricity,] and any debt, and any thing in action, and any other right or interest.
Knows (Define)
Simester and Brookbanks
Knowing or correctly believing, the defendant may believe something wrongly, but cannot ‘know’ something that is false
Danger to Life (case law)
R v Smith
Danger to life
(R v Smith held)
Common sense requires that ‘danger to life’ should be interpreted as “danger to the life of some person other than the setter of the fire”
Immovable property define
Property will be considered immovable if it is currently fixed in place and unable to be moved, even though it may be possible to make it movable.
Interest in property (case law)
R v Wilson
Interest in property (R v Wilson held)
Tenancy of a property constitutes a interest in it.
Aircraft define
Aircraft means any machine that can derive support in the atmosphere from the reaction of the air otherwise than by the reaction of the air against the surface of the earth
Ship define
Ship means every description of vessel used in navigation, however propelled; and includes any barge, lighter, dinghy, raft, or like vessel; and also includes any ship belonging to or used as a ship of the armed forces of any country.
Vehicle define
Vehicle
means a contrivance equipped with wheels, tracks, or revolving runners on which it moves or is moved.
Includes: hovercraft, skateboard, in-line skates, roller-skates
Excludes:
- pram/push-chair,
- shopping/sport cart not motorized,
- wheelbarrow/hand trolley,
- pedestrian controlled lawn mower,
- pedestrian contolled agricultural machine not motor propelled,
- furnature,
- wheelchair not powered,
- rail vehicle
Claim of Right define
Claim of right in relation to any act, means a belief at the time of the act in a proprietary or possessor right in property in relation to which the offence is alleged to have been committed,
although that belief may be based on ignorance or mistake of fact or of any matter of law other than the enacent against which the offence is alleged to have been committed
Loss (case law)
R v Morley
Loss (R v Morley held)
Loss… is assessed by the extent to which the complainant’s position prior to the [offence] has been diminished or impared
obtain define
obtain in relation to any person, means obtain or retain for himself or herself or for any other person
Benifit define
Benifit means any benefit, pecuniary advantage, privilege, property, service, or valuable consideration
Person define
Person, owner, and other words and expressions of the like kind, include
- the Crown and
- any public body or local authority, and
- any board, society, or company, and
- any other body of persons, whether incorporated or not, and
- the inhabitants of the district of any local authority, in relation to such acts and things as it or they are capable of doing or owning
Attempted Arson (Act & Section)
Section 268, Crimes Act 1961
Attempted Arson (Elements)
- Attempts to commit arson
- Of any immovable property, or vehicle, or ship, or aircraft.
Attempted Arson Crown must prove
- intended to commit the offence and
- took a real and substantial step towards achieving that aim
Attempt (case law)
R v Harpur
Attempt Act or omission (R v Harpur held)
An attempt includes an act or omission constituting a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in his commission of the crime
Attempt Sufficiently Proximate (R v Harpur held)
The court may have regard to the conduct viewed cumulatively up to the point when the conduct in question stops… the defendant’s conduct may be considered in its entirety. Considering how much remains to be done… is always relevant, though not determanitive