Arson - definitions Flashcards
Intent
In criminal law context there are two specific types of intention in an offence.
There must be an intention:
- to commit the act, and
- to get a specific result.
‘Intent’ means that an act or omission must be done deliberately. The act or omission must be more than involuntary or accidental.
Intent may be related to a scenario as follows:
“X intended to commit a specific act (lighting the paper with a match) with an intent to get a specific result (damage the building by fire).
Reckless
When recklessness is an element in an offence the following must be proved:
(1) That the defendant consciously and deliberately ran a risk (subjective)
(2) That the risk was one that was unreasonable to take in the circumstances as they were known to the defendant (objective)
Fire
Fire is the result of the process of combustion, a chemical reaction between fuel and oxygen triggered by heat. For fire to start or continue, each of the three elements - fuel, oxygen and heat - must be present in the correct proportions.
Explosive
Arms Act 1983, Section 2
(a) means any substance or mixture or combination of substances which in its normal state is capable either of decomposition at such rapid rate as to result in an explosion or of producing a pyrotechnic effect, and
(d) does not include any firework as defined in section 2 of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996.
Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, Section 2
means capable of sudden expansion owing to a release of internal energy; and includes the capability to generate
(a) deflagration; or
(b) pyrotechnic effects
Property
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 / Ought to know
The provision of ‘knows or ought to know’ involves a mixed subjective / objective test as to the defendant’s degree of knowledge.
The first question (the subjective test) is: what was the defendant thinking at the time? Did the defendant know that human life was likely to be endangered by his actions?
If there is insufficient evidence that the defendant was conscious of the risk, the next question (the objective test) is: what would a reasonable person have thought in the same circumstances? Would a reasonable person have recognised the risk?
Likely to ensue
The use of “likely” means that a defendant merely has to know that there is a chance, or a risk, of danger to life. Therefore, this is a form of recklessness rather than strict knowledge.
Vehicle
Vehicle means a contrivance equipped with wheels, tracks, or revolving runners on which it moves or is moved.
Ship
Ship means every description of vessel used in navigation, however propelled.
Aircraft
Aircraft means any machine that can derive support in the atmosphere from the reactions of the air otherwise than by the reactions of the air against the surface of the earth.
Obtain
Crimes Act 1961, Section 217
Obtain, in relation to any person, means obtain or retain for himself or herself or for any other person.
Benefit
The term ‘benefit’ is defined in section 267(4) and is said to mean any benefit, pecuniary advantage, privilege, property, service, or valuable consideration.
