Criminal Damage Flashcards
Definition
Defined in section 1(1) Criminal Damage Act 1971
Elements
AR destroy or damage Property Belonging to another Without lawful excuse
MR
Intention to destroy or damage property belonging to another OR
Recklessness as to whether property belonging to another is destroyed or damaged
Destroy or damage
No definitoon in act
Can include temporary or
permanent harm to property, reduction in value, usefulness or performance. Property does not have to be completely destroyed
Damage also includes non permanent damage
Hardman v cc - a pavement was help to have been damaged even though the paint used by D was water soluble and eventually would have washed off
Samuels v Stubbs - jumping on a policeman’s coat wasn’t damage as it could easily be wiped off
Property
Section 10(1) of the Criminal Damage Act defines property
Includes wild creatures which have been tamed
Not including mushrooms growing wild
Belonging to another
Defined in section 10(2)
Same as theft theft but criminal damage cannot be caused to abandoned property
Without lawful excuse
Will have excuse if believed if the person entitled to consent to the damage would have consented or if he destroyed property in order to protect property if he believed it was in immediate need of protection and the means of protection were reasonable having regard to the circumstances.
Without lawful excuse cases
R v Denton - D was not guilty of CD when he set fire to his employers factory as he was asked by his employer to do so as part of an insurance fraud
R v hill & hall - d feared that a nearby naval base would come under nuclear attack and therefore her property would also be damaged. Defence not allied as the threat from a nuclear attack was not imminent
Mens rea
Intention to destroy property belonging to another or recklessness as to whether such property is damaged or destroyed
R v Smith - D damaged fixtures that he had fitted in a flat he was renting. He was not guilty as he thought the fixtures belonged to him
