Criminal Damage Flashcards
What is the offence of criminal damage?
Any person who…
- without lawful excuse
- destroys
- damages
- property
- belonging to another
- intending to destroy or damage
- reckless as to to its destruction or damage
…is guilty of an offence
If bellow what value of damage will the offence be summarily tried and bellow what value can it be FPN?
- Bellow £5000.00 for summarily trial
- Racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage is always triable either way
- Bellow £300.00 for FPN
What is the definition of DESTROYED?
There is no formal definition but it means to render it useless. There is no need to prove that the damage is a permanent or irreversible state.
- remember graffiti and mud put on a pavement can amount to damage, if it renders the pavement unusable, even though it can be washed off.
What is and what’s is not property?
Anything tangible or “real”, including…
- money
- wild creatures which have been tamed or ordinarily kept in captivity
- the carcass of a wild creature ONCE REDUCED INTO PROPERTY OR IN THE COURSE OF BEING REDUCED (remember the hunter gathering a carcass)
- tended crops and gardens including flower beds, pitches, trees, GM crops
- farm animals and pets
…this does not include
- mushrooms growing wild ON ANY LANDE
- flowers, fruit or foliage growing wild ON ANY LAND
Can you damage your own property?
Ordinarily no but if someone else has an interest in your property (such as it is shared ownership or investment) then it also “belongs to them so it can be damaged
- you cannot even damage your own property in the course of committing another offence; such as destroying your car in insurance fraud
Lawful excuses allows for the defence of “PERMISSION” against this offence. What is this?
If AT THE TIME of committing the offence…
- the defendant BELIEVED
- the person who is entitled to provide consent
- consented to the destruction
- would have consented had they known it was happening
Lawful excuse allows the defence of PROTECTION, what is this?
Where property is…
- destroyed or damaged
- threatened to be destroyed or damaged
- (in the case of possession with intent) intend to use , cause or permit its use to destroy or damage
- in order to protect property belonging to them or another
at that time they had an honest BELIEF…
- the property was in IMMEDIATE NEED of protection
- the action taken was proportionate and reasonable under the circumstances (remember destroying military property to avert a “potential” nuclear war is not proportionate)
The belief needed for any defence must be HONESTLY HELD. describe the circumstances where it is acceptable and where it is not.
- if the belief is honestly held then INTOXICATION, STUPIDITY, FORGETFULNESS and INATTENTION can all be accepted as part of the defence
- GOD is not a lawful consent to destroying property
- You cannot protect property in other countries because the immediacy to protect it cannot be justified normally
What is the offence of aggravated criminal damage?
Any person who, without lawful excuse…
- destroys or damages
- property
- bellowing to THEM or ANOTHER
- intending to destroy or damage it
- being reckless as to destroy or damage it
…and by dooming this…
- intends to endanger the life of ANOTHER (only)
- is reckless as to wether another’s life would be endangered
…shall be guilty of an offence
Can you use the defences in this act, PROTECTION or CONSENT, for an aggravated offence?
No, only the general defences open to all crime
What consideration do you have to give to how the damage will endanger life in an aggravated offence?
- the damage itself, and the act of causing the damage, must be the thing which endangers life
- shooting through a glass window will damage the window but the broken glass will not normally be the source of harm, the bullet will be
- ramming a car or smashing it’s windscreen can be the source of harm to someone because it can directly result in injury to the people inside
- it does not matter how trivial the resulting damage is, if the intent was harm by causing it, the offence is complete
What is the offence of threats to destroy or damage property?
Any person who…
- without lawful excuse
- makes a threat
- to another
- INTENDING that person to fear it would be carried out
- to destroy or damage ANY property belonging to them or a third party
- to destroy their own property in such a way as to endanger the life of that person or ANOTHER person
…is guilty of an offence
Does it matter if a threat to cause damage is or even could be carried out?
No; it is only the intent of the person committing the act. The fact the other person does not fear or that it cannot even be carried out is irrelevant. As long as they intend them to fear it.
What is the offence of having articles with intent to destroy or damage property?
Any person who…
- has in their custody or control
- ANYTHING
- with intent to / cause or permit another to
- destroy or damage property belonging to ANOTHER
- destroy or damage his own property in such a way as to endanger life
…is guilty of an offence
Is having an article with a conditional intent on enough to complete the offence of having articles with intent?
Yes; just having a Lyn intent to potentially cause damage (if those conditions are met) is enough
