Giving false info to authorities (crime against state)

Question 1

Kerr v Hill 1936

Answer 1

a bus driver simply told the police that he had seen a cyclist being hit by a bus, run by rival company. no specific individual. Lord Justice-Geberal Normand stated that the essence of the crime consisted in the fact that “the criminal authorities were deliberately set in motion by a malicious person by means of an invented story.

Question 2

Bower v Tudhope 1987

Answer 2

B was charged with wasting police time by falsely stating that he had lost a giro cheque. He appealed against the relevancy of the complaint and argued that the essence of the crime was a false accusation.
Held, appeal refused. The essence of the crime was deliberately setting the criminal authorities in motion by means of an invented story (Kerr (Edward) v Hill 1936 J.C. 71, [1936] 3 WLUK 24; Gray v Morrison [1954] C.L.Y. 3692 ). It would be matter for proof whether the police had actually spent time looking for the cheque.

Question 3

Simpkins v HMA 1985

Answer 3

a store detective prepare a shoplifting charge against two boys. the police were informed and they were under suspicion for a period. Simpkins was convicted of falsely accusing two persons in a shop of having committed the crime of theft and of fabricating evidence tending to support that false accusation which was reported to the police.

Question 4

Gray v Morrison 1954

Answer 4

the accused committed an offence, largely through excessive politeness. he has refused a lift from a friend by pretending that he planned to cycle home. When the friend discovered that there was no bicycle - report theft of bicycle to police. Actus reus false statement to the police as a result of which they set an investigation in motion., the crime is committed whether or not the statement is made maliciously