Burglary Flashcards
Difference between burglaries and robbings?
Remember that buildings get burgled, only people can get robbed.
If you ever hear someone say, “my house was robbed”, they mean that they have been burgled.
Burglary Definition
Burglary is split into what two Sections?
s9 of the Theft Act 1968
(1) A person is guilty of burglary if
(a) he enters any building or part of a building as a trespasser and with intent to commit any such offence as is mentioned in subsection (2) below; or
(b) having entered any building or part of a building as a trespasser he steals or attempts to steal anything in the building or that part of it or inflicts or attempts to inflict on any person therein any grievous bodily harm.
Difference between Section 9 (1) (a) and 9 (1) (b) of the Theft Act 1968?
Section 9 (1) (a) is the intention to commit burglary only – the mens rea. Section 9 (1) (b) is the actual action, - the actus reus.
For an offence under Section 9 (1) (a) to have been committed the suspect must enter a building with the intention to:
(Subsection 2)
- Steal anything in the building;
- Inflict grievous bodily harm on anyone in the building;
- Unlawfully damage the building or anything inside it.
For section 9 (1) (a), the acts do not have to have been carried out. The suspect only needs to have intended to carry them out. You can prove intent by guilty admission, circumstantial evidence such as finding the suspect in the building in possession of property which is known to belong to the building.
For Section 9 (1) (b), the suspect must enter the building and commit either:
- Theft or attempted theft
- Inflicting GBH or attempt to inflict GBH.
What does ‘entry’ mean?
Generally, ‘entry’ is made by the burglar by physically coming into the building.
However, ‘entry’ can also be through inserting part of their body into the building - such as reaching through a window. Also, using tools or items to extend the burglar’s reach into the building is considered ‘entry’, e.g ‘letterbox burglaries’.
Would the following scenarios count as ‘entry’?
Sliding a hand between a window and a door frame, in order to release the catch.
No
Would the following scenario count as entry? Pushing a broom handle through the letter box, in order to knock over an item of furniture which had prevented the door from opening.
Yes
Would the following count as entry? Lifting a seven year old child onto a garage roof, so they can climb in through an open window and let you in the front door.
Yes
In order to commit burglary, does a person need to know that they are entering a building as a trespasser?
Yes- they must know that they do not have any right by law to enter that building, nor explicit or implied permission to do so.
What more obscure types of trespassing can exist?
- Entering a building by deceiving the owner into giving permission to enter.
- e.g pretending to be from a utility company, will be sufficient, e.g “distraction burglary” offences, particularly against elderly victims. - When a suspect exceeds a generally given permission.
- e.g you may have a general permission to enter your parents’ house, but should you enter and steal their jewellery, it could be said that your general permission did not extend as far as taking their personal property. Therefore, you could be guilty of burglary. - A further example could be a shopkeeper, who gives a general permission to all his customers to enter the shop during opening hours and to go as far as the public areas. Should that general permission be exceeded, such as going into staff areas, behind the till or into the shop outside of opening hours, a person could be held to be a trespasser.
Cases relevant to Burglary and Entry
R v Jones and Smith [1976] 1 WLR 672: Jones and Smith entered one of their parent’s houses and stole two television sets. They were deemed to have exceeded a general permission, thus becoming trespassers, and were convicted of Burglary.
R v Walkington [1979] 1 WLR 1169: Walkington went behind a till at a Debenham’s store and pulled the till open. Finding nothing in there, he shut it and tried to leave the store before being detained. He was convicted of s.9(1)(a) Burglary and argued against his conviction on the basis that he had not been a trespasser, as the area was accessible by the public at the time. His conviction was upheld, as he was a trespasser behind the counter.
R v Laing (1995) Crim LR 395: Laing entered a store and hid in the stock room until after closing. When he entered the store, he had not been a trespasser. In a somewhat messed-up prosecution, the Crown argued that he was a trespasser in the building as a whole, rather than in the stockroom, and he ended up with his conviction quashed on that basis as he had lawfully entered the building during opening hours. Had the prosecution argued that he was a trespasser in part of a building, i.e. the stockroom, the conviction would have most likely upheld. The key lesson from R v Laing is that someone cannot become a trespasser in a building or part of a building, for the purposes of burglary, where they have previously entered that building (or part) as a lawful visitor.
Case law can help us to establish what is meant by a ‘building’:
“A structure of considerable size and intended to be permanent or at least to endure for a considerable time” (Stevens v Gourley [1859] 7 CBNS 99)
“A building need not necessarily be a completed structure; it is sufficient that it should be a connected and entire structure.” (R v Manning and Rogers [1871] CA)
Would an unfinished building constitute as a ‘building’?
An unfinished building, so long as it has walls and a roof, would be considered a “building”. A house under renovation or construction would be a good example of this, and such places are frequently targeted by burglars (particularly for tools and materials).
Letterbox Burglaries to gain an understanding of entry
The offenders used a piece of wire to reach through the letterbox and pull the door handle down from the inside. If the police had turned up at this point, before the door had been opened, the full offence of burglary would not have been complete: using a piece of wire to gain access does not count as “entry” and thus there is no burglary. If the offenders had got around to going through the threshold of the door and the police had then turned up and interrupted the proceedings, the offence of burglary would be complete, they have “entered” the building according to case law.
A slightly different scenario: if the offenders had used the same wire to hook a set of keys off a surface next to the door, and the police had then arrived, this would count as entry. The wire is considered an extension of the offender’s body, and they have stolen the keys. They are guilty of 9(1)(a) and 9(1)(b).
A final scenario: if police arrived and the offenders were using a piece of wire to try to hook a set off keys off the wall, the offence would also be complete, under both 9(1)(a) and 9(1)(b). But, it would be hard to prove the offence without internal CCTV or a confession, so officers would potentially arrest for the offences of attempted burglary, or going equipped.
