Offences Flashcards
What are the summary offences?
- Assault
- Battery
- Simple criminal damage (value of damage below £5000)
- Low value shoplifting (£200) = but right to elect still applies
- Attempts to commit summary only offences
What is an attempt?
Where D does something which is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the offence AND has intention to commit the full offence.
* for murder, must intend to kill, causing GBH not enough.
* If intention or recklessness, intention must be shown
Merely preparatory acts come to an end and D embarks on the crime proper.
What are the either-way offences?
- Theft
- Burglary
- Fraud
- Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (s.47 OAPA)
- Wounding or inflicting GBH without intent (s.20 OAPA)
- Simple criminal damage where value is over £5000
- Simple arson
- Attempts to commit either way offences
What are the indictable only offences?
- Cases involving complex fraud or where children are called as witnesses
- Robbery
- Wounding or causing GBH with intent (s.18 OAPA)
- Aggravated burglary
- Aggravated arson
- Aggravated criminal damage
- Murder
- Voluntary manslaughter
- Involuntary manslaughter
- Attempts to commit the above
What is the actus reus and mens rea of murder?
Unlawful homicide with malice aforethought (intention to kill or cause GBH i.e serious harm).
What is the actus reus and mens rea for criminal damage?
Destroy or damage property belogning to another with intent or recklessness as to the damage and to the fact the property belongs to another, without lawful excuse.
Destroy/damage = property ceases to exist, need not be permanent or render property useless but time, effort and money required to return thing to its original state (e.g graffiti). Temporary impairment of value of usefulness.
e.g spread mud on walls of police cell, flooding cell.
Belonging to another: custody or control, legal proprietary interest (not equitable), charge on property.
Intention / Recklessness: can escape liability by holding honest believe that property belonged to him. Irrelevant whether justified or reasonable but must be genuinely held.
What is lawful excuse in the context of criminal damage?
s.5(2)(a): D honestly believed that the owner would have consented to the damage.
* applies even if D involuntarily intoxicated
* regardless of motive
s.5(2)(b): D acts to protect their own or another’s property because D believes the property to be in immediate need of protection (subj) and the means adopted were reasonable having regard to all the circumstances (obj.)
What is arson?
a) Damage or destruction of property belonging to another by fire.
b) with intention or recklessness as to the damage / destruction and fact it belongs to another
c) without lawful excuse.
What is aggravated criminal damage?
Destroying or damaging any property, whether belonging to himself or another, and intending or being reckless as to the damage and to endangering the life of another.
- need not endanger life
- No lawful excuse defence
- Danger must arise from damaged property (e.g fire, not bullet through window unless damage from shards of glass).
What is theft?
D dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with intention to permanently deprive.
Appropriation = any assumption of the rights of the owner. Selling, hiring, giving away, destroying, switching labels. May come by property innocently and later decide to appropriate. Bona fide purchasers for value without notice not liable.
Belonging to another: possession, control, proprietary right or interest. Control = taking steps to exclude trespassers.
What is “property” for the purposes of the property offences?
- Money and all other real or personal property.
NOT
* Land except D authorised to sell land and sells excess, D trespasser and removes fence / lavendar plant, tenant.
* wild plants and animals
* electricity
* corpses and body parts except those in hospitals, blood bank or cadivers
* confidential info
* services
* wild plants unless purpose is for reward / commercial.
When might property “belong to another” in the context of theft?
- Where a person receives property from or on account of another, is under an obligation to retain and deal with that property or proceeds in a particular way (i.e legal duty, social / domestic arrangement). D may have legal ownership but still belongs to another.
- Property obtained by mistake = D under obligation to restore this and if not, have intention to permanently deprive.
What is the test for dishonesty?
Ivey v Genting Casinos:
1) Subjective state of mind of D
2) Whether, by the standards of ordinary decent people, this was dishonest.
NOT dishonest where:
* D has a legal right to deprive someone of property
* D honestly believed person would consent if they knew
* D genuinely believes owner cannot be discovered by taking reasonable steps.
What is intention to permanently deprive?
Intention to treat the thing as his own or dispose of it regardless of the owner’s rights.
- borrowing / lending equivalent to outright taking or disposal
- Use for bargaining
- rendering property useless
- treating it in a manner that risks its loss
- giving up possession / control for return on condition.
What is robbery?
D commits theft + immediately before or at the time of doing so, and in order to do so, he uses force on any person or puts or seeks to put any person in fear of there and then being subjected to force.
Force:
* must cause force against the person, could be indirect i.e through handbag.
Seeks to put in fear:
* need not be physical, could be threat
* No need for victim to actually be scared
* Must be then and there
