Damage to property Flashcards
Criminal Damage Act 1991
291) A person who without lawful excuse damages any property belonging to another intending to damage any such property or being reckless as to whether any such property would be damaged shall be guilty of an offence
Property means
(a) property of tangible nature, whether real or personal, including money and animals that are capable of being stolen and
(b) data
when does property belong to someone
Property shall be treated for the purposes of this act as belonging to any person
(a) having lawful custody or control of it
(b) Having in it any proprietary right or interest, or
(c) having a charge over it
define damage
Damage is defined as including destruction, defacing, rendering inoperable and also altering corrupting and doing any act contribution to the alteration of data
damaging property -endangering life
(2) A person who without lawful excuse damages any property, whether belonging to himself or another
(a) intending to damage any property or being reckless as to whether any property would be damaged, and
(b) intending by the damage to endanger the life of another or being reckless as to whether the life of another would be thereby endangered
damaging property with intent to defraud
s. 2(3) A person who damages any property, whether belonging to himself or another, with intent to defraud shall be guilty of an offence
Arson
if property is damaged by means of fire, the appropriate charge is Arson. Arson is regarded as the most serious type of criminal damage.
Threat to damage property
S.3 A person who without lawful excuse makes to another a threat, intending that the other would fear it would be carried out
(a) to damage any property belonging to that other or a third person, or
(b) to damage his own property
possessing any thing with intent to damage property
A person who has anything in his custody or under his control intending without lawful excuse to use it or cause or permit another to use it
(a) to damage any property belonging to some other person, or
(b) to damage his own or the intended user’s property
does the owner of the property need to be identified?
no
what are the facts of R v Denton?
The Defendant started a fire at his employer’s premises. He maintained that he believed that his employer had encouraged him to do so, in order to make a fraudulent claim against his insurance. It was held that it may be a defence for a person to act believing that he had the consent of the owner of the premises or would have had the consent of the owner if the
owner was aware of his actions.
what are the facts of Jaggard v dickson?
In Jaggard v Dickinson, it was held that the belief of an accused person must be an honest belief regardless of how the belief came about. In that case, the accused person was highly intoxicated and broke a window under the misapprehension that the premises belonged to a friend.
The court stated: “a belief can be just as much honestly held if it is induced by intoxication, as if it stems from stupidity, forgetfulness or inattention.”
Omissions - criminal damage
An omission to act may also be sufficient to amount to actus reus for the purposes of criminal damage.
