Property Offences.

Question 1

What is appropriation?

Answer 1

The assumption by D of one of the owner’s rights over a piece of property.

Question 2

What is dishonesty?

Answer 2

D acts in a way regarded as dishonest by the standards of the community, and he or she is aware of that.

Question 3

What are the four statutes?

Answer 3

Ø The Theft Act 1968
Ø Fraud Act 2006
Ø Theft Act 1978
Criminal Damage Act 1971

Question 4

How are property offences structured?

Answer 4

To focus on the way in which the loss was caused (force robbery, deception fraud).

Question 5

What is the maximum sentence of theft?

Answer 5

7 years.

Question 5

What is the 1968 Act do?

Answer 5

Increases the scope of theft dramatically. More suitable for dealing with intangible properties.

Question 6

Where is the definition of theft?

Answer 6

Section 1 Theft Act

Question 7

What is the definition of assumption?

Answer 7

‘Assumption by a person of the rights of an owner, including when he has come by the property (innocent or not) without stealing it, any later assumption of a right to it by keeping or dealing with its owner (even if you never take the property)’

Question 8

Is it necessary for D to appropriate all of the owner’s rights?

Answer 8

Ø An owner has the right to touch, move, sell, lend, use, destroy or consume his own property.

Doing any of those things will amount to appropriation, although of course there is no theft unless the other elements of the offence are made out.

Question 9

Is it possible to appropriate honestly?

-Switching price labels.

Answer 9

Ø Gomez stated: joker and the intent, both have appropriated. The different motivations are irrelevant, yet relevant as to whether they are honest/dishonest. House of Lords claimed appropriation is a neutral concept, not necessarily saying wrong doing, simply describing D’s actions.

Question 10

What did Gomez state about appropriation and consent?

Answer 10

Act can amount to appropriate even if it has been consented to, or authorised by the owner. It is only theft if they intend to deprive the owner of it.

Question 11

Where is property defined?

Answer 11

S4 of the Theft Act 1968 as including money and all other property, real or personal, including things in action and other intangible property.

Question 12

What is real property?

Answer 12

Includes buildings and land but there are special provisions relating to land in s4(2)

Question 13

What is personal property?

Answer 13

May be tangible or intangible, that is things that can or cannot be touched physically.

Question 14

What is a thing in action?

Answer 14

Intangible property which gives rise to a right to sue someone in the courts, for example, a copyright, debt or bank credit. Such things can’t be touched but are regarded as property and can be stolen.

Question 15

What is not property?

Answer 15

• Information (Oxford v Moss (1978) 68 Cr App R 183)
• Electricity (Low v Blease [1975] Crim LR 513 but see section 13 Theft Act 1968)
• Bodies (Kelly [1999] QB 621; Bristol v North Bristol NHS Trust [2009] EWCA 37)
• Can steal parts of a body.

Services but see the Fraud Act 2006

Question 16

Where an item is property, but cannot be stolen because of section 4?

Answer 16

• Land, except in limited circumstances (s 4(2) and 4 (3)
• Wild animals (section 4) - In captivity, it can be stolen.
  There is theft of fixture (steal moveable object on the land and things on parts of land (trees, plants etc).
  Can pick mushrooms and blackberries, but not allowed to sell them.

Question 17

What happens if you lose a tennis ball and do not retrieve it?

Answer 17

Now property of the land.

Question 18

What is the definition of property?

Answer 18

• Property shall be regarded as belonging to any person having possession or control of it, or having in it any proprietary right or interest (not being an equitable interest arising only from an agreement to transfer or grant an interest) (section 5)

Question 19

What are not synonymous?

Answer 19

Possession and control.

Question 20

Where is dishonesty outlined?

Answer 20

• Despite theft being a statutory defence, the mens rea is not entirely in the statute.
  Section 2 only outlines what is not dishonest, the common law concept of dishonesty (found in Ivey) must also be read.

Question 21

What are the four parts of Section 2(1) and 2(2) 1968?

Answer 21

• Claim of right
  * Belief in consent
  -Inability to discover owner/
  -Willing to pay for property, yet acted in a dishonest way.

Question 22

What is the leading case for the Common Law Definition of Dishonesty?

Answer 22

Ivey v Genting Casinos (2017)

Question 23

What is not theft?

Answer 23

Borrowing. This is controversial because it can be an infringement of rights.

Question 24

What about timing?

Answer 24

The property must belong to another at the time of appropriation.