Property Offences - Theft

Question 1

What is the definition of theft?

Answer 1

To dishonestly appropriate property belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive the other of it

Question 2

What is the test for dishonesty?

Answer 2

Ivey vs Genting Casinos (2017)
R v Barton and Booth (2020) reaffirmed

• What is classed as ‘dishonest’ according to the standard of a reasonable person

Question 3

What are the possible defences to theft?

Answer 3

• they believed they had a right in law to the property stolen
• they believed that had the owner known of the circumstances that they would have consented
• they believed the owner could not reasonably have been found - does not apply for trustees/ personal representatives

Question 4

Does the property have to be taken?

Answer 4

The property itself does not have to be taken - interfering with goods, e.g. swapping price labels would suffice

Can also render property useless without taking it

Question 5

What can property be defined as?

Answer 5

• tangible and intangible
• money, real property, personal property, things in action, other intangible things

Question 6

Can a person steal land?

Answer 6

A person cannot steal land, or things forming part of land, except in certain cases e.g. the person needs to be in a position of trust over the land, such as solicitors/ estate agents

Question 7

Can flowers, fruit, foliage and fungi be stolen?

Answer 7

You can pick and pluck but you cannot chop and dig. However, if you are picking or plucking for financial gain, then it is theft. (MUST HAVE THE INTENTION OF FINANCIAL GAIN AT THE TIME OF PICKING/ PLUCKING FOR THEFT)

Question 8

Can wild animals be stolen?

Answer 8

Wild animals do not belong to anyone and thus you cannot steal them. However, if they then become owned, you can steal them.

Question 9

When is property regarded as belonging to another?

Answer 9

Property is regarded as belonging to another who had possession, or control of it, or have in it any proprietary rights or interest

e.g. if a car is at a garage and the person who owns the car collects it without the garage’s permission, this could amount to theft as the car at the time would ‘belong’ to the garage due to it being repaired.

Question 10

When is a person regarded as having the intention to permanently deprive?

Answer 10

If their intention is to treat the property as their own to dispose of.
Borrowing/ lending may amount to theft if the period and circumstances make it equivalent to outright taking or disposal

Question 11

Can you steal electricity?

Answer 11

You cannot steal electricity. However, a person who dishonestly uses without due authority, or dishonestly causes to be wasted or diverted, any electricity from any source shall commit an offence

Question 12

What is the legislation for theft?

Answer 12

Section 1-7 of the Theft Act 1968

Question 13

What type of offence is theft?

Answer 13

Either way offence

Question 14

What is the maximum imprisonment for theft?

Answer 14

7 years

Question 15

Can a gift be theft?

Answer 15

Yes - if the circumstances of the gift giving are dishonest - it is not necessary to prove that the taking is without the owner’s consent
(Lawrence v Met 1972)

Question 16

Can a person steal if they are under an obligation to deal with something a certain way but then don’t?

Answer 16

Yes - obligation is a legal one, not a moral one - regardless of an intention to pay the thing back, e.g. money, a person parting with the property under a condition as to its return that may not be possible commits theft

Question 17

Is the obligation to restore another’s property a moral or legal one?

Answer 17

S.5(3) Theft Act 1968 - Legal obligation

Question 18

Can a spouse/ civil partner be prosecuted for theft/ robbery and burglary by stealing?

Answer 18

Yes but only with the consent of the DPP - does not apply when the parties are separated by judicial decree or order or under no obligation to cohabit

Question 19

Can the same property be stolen again by the same thief?

Answer 19

No (R v Gomez [1993])

Question 20

Examples of things that are not classed as property under the Theft Act

Answer 20

Confidential information
A person’s characteristics and their administrative data (such as national insurance number)

Question 21

Can a tenant steal from a tenancy property?

Answer 21

A tenant can appropriate fixtures or structures let to be used with the land (e.g. a fireplace)

A tenant cannot steal things forming part of the land (e.g. flowers) or the land itself (e.g. topsoil) when they are in possession of the land

Question 22

Can you steal a human body?

Answer 22

Human bodies are not classed as property under the Theft Act unless some work has been carried out on the body for preservation or for a scientific purpose

Question 23

Definition of appropriation

Answer 23

Any assumption by a person of the rights of an owner, including where he has come by the property (innocently or not) without stealing it, any later assumption of a right to it by keeping or dealing with it as owner

Assuming just one of the owner’s rights would suffice for appropriation to occur

Question 24

Can you steal with the owner’s consent?

Answer 24

Yes - it is unnecessary for the prosecution of theft to prove that the taking was without the owner’s consent

Question 25

When will appropriation not be regarded as dishonest?

Answer 25

• if he appropriates the property and believes that he has a right in law to deprive the other of it, on behalf of himself or a third person
• if he appropriates the property in the belief that he would have the other’s consent if they knew of the appropriation and the circumstances
• except where the property came to him as a trustee/ personal representative - he appropriates property in the belief that the person to whom the property belongs cannot be discovered by taking reasonable steps

Question 26

What is classed as low value shoplifting?

Answer 26

• under £200 is low value and thus summary only