Property Offences - Theft

Question 1

Theft

Answer 1

Theft is a triable either way offence with a max penalty in the crown court of 7 years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. In the magistrates court, 6 months imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

Question 2

The theft act

Answer 2

‘The dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it’.

Question 3

Actus reus

Answer 3

S.3 - appropriation
S.4 - property
S.5 - belonging to another

Question 4

Actus reus element 1 - appropriation

Answer 4

‘To assume/taking the rights of the owner’. Appropriating someone’s rights: taking the ‘rights that someone else has over the property’ might include a person who has been lent another person’s belongings. During their course of their possession of that property, selling it on, destroying it, or modifying it in some way that assumes ownership over it in some way.

Question 5

Appropriation cases

Answer 5

Morris - assumed owners rights at shop
Vinnall - took ownership of bike and then abandoned it

Question 6

Theft with deception

Answer 6

Coercive, deceptive or untruthful means or acts in order to gain and appropriate property. An appropriation may still be present even when there is consent from the owner.

Question 7

Theft with deception - cases

Answer 7

Lawrence - tricked into paying more for fare
Gomez - persuasion to accept stolen cheques with no value
Hinks - d was v’s caretaker, ‘gifted’ a lot of money and things from v

Question 8

Gifting

Answer 8

Consent without deception. In the case of Hicks, if it was civil, it would’ve been a valid case, but the human element (v’s limited intelligence and d being his main carer) makes the outcome of the case satisfactory.

Question 9

When does appropriation take place?

Answer 9

It takes place when d first assumes rights of ownership without the actual rights. Can be a later act, or right from the start (Abrahams).

Question 10

What constitutes as property?

Answer 10

• money
• land
• tangible items
• buildings/rocks/plants
• picking an apple from someone’s tree
• renter takes fixtures/lightbulbs when they move out

Question 11

Cases for property

Answer 11

Kelly: usually body parts are not considered to be anyone’s property after death- body parts were donated for providing opportunity to dissection and furthering skill.
Oxford v. Moss: theft of confidential information
Marshall: reselling and using other’s property for own gain

Question 12

Things in action

Answer 12

• bank accounts
• cheques

Question 13

Actus reus s.5 - belonging to another

Answer 13

What a person owns, another can possess.
Key words:
- possession
- control
- ownership

Question 14

S.5 cases

Answer 14

Turner: owner of property can be guilty of theft even if v had no right to stop them from taking the property back
Woodman: company was unaware of property left behind
Rickets: items still belonged to owner until Oxfam took ownership

Question 15

Belonging to another - abandoned property

Answer 15

If property is truly abandoned, it has no owner and anyone who takes it will not be held liable for theft.

Question 16

Lost property

Answer 16

Lost property is regarded as belonging to the ‘loser’ . However, where the owner cannot be found with reasonable steps, the finder of the property has better title to the items than the owner of land on which the items are found.

Question 17

Lost property case

Answer 17

Bridges: claimant was entitled to the return of the money after not being claimed for 3 years

Question 18

Proprietary interest

Answer 18

Where d owns property and is in possession and control of the property, they can still be guilty of stealing it if another person has a proprietary interest in it.

Question 19

Proprietary interest - case

Answer 19

Webster: ministry of defence still had proprietary interest in the property

Question 20

Acting dishonestly - s.5

Answer 20

S.5 makes it clear that in certain situations, d can still be guilty of theft even if property does not ‘belong to another’. These are situations in which d is acting dishonestly and caused a loss to another or has made a gain:
- trust property, where a trustee can steal it
- property received under an obligation
- property received by another’s mistake

Question 21

Property received under an obligation - s.5(3)

Answer 21

Property given must be used in a particular way. Property may be handed over to d on a certain basis or under certain obligation.

Question 22

Property received under an obligation - cases

Answer 22

Kilneberg: under obligation ‘to retain and deal with that property or its proceedings in a particular way’
Davidge: legal obligation to deal with property in a certain way
Wain: used property for own purposes despite being under legal obligation

Question 23

Property received by mistake - s.5(4)

Answer 23

General principle: return it in good faith.

Question 24

Property received by mistake - case

Answer 24

AGs Ref: knowingly doesn’t return property

Question 25

Mens rea of theft

Answer 25

S.2 - ‘dishonestly’
S.6 - intention to permanently deprive the other of the appropriated
Both must be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

Question 26

‘Dishonestly’

Answer 26

There is no definition in s.2 of what dishonestly is, but s.2(1) shows what isn’t dishonest.

Question 27

Theft - s.2(1)

Answer 27

D’s appropriation of property is not dishonest if:
- he believes in law he has a right to deprive another of property
- he believes that the other would consent if he/she were aware that their property had been appropriated
- he appropriates the property in the belief that the owner cannot reasonably be traced

Question 28

S.2(1) - cases

Answer 28

Robinson: honest belief
Holden: believed he had legal right to property
Small: owner couldn’t be found

Question 29

What if d is willing to pay for the stolen property or leaves money?

Answer 29

S.2(2) - ‘a person’s appropriation of property belonging to another may be dishonest notwithstanding that he is willing to pay for the property’.

Question 30

Ivery test

Answer 30

Asks 2 questions:
- what was d’s actual state of knowledge/belief as to the facts?
- was conduct dishonest by standards of ordinary, decent people?

Question 31

Intention to permanently deprive - s.6

Answer 31

The defence will often try to prove that property is ‘borrowed’. It can be difficult to separate ‘borrowed’ from ‘intention’.

Question 32

Intention to permanently deprive - cases

Answer 32

DDP v J: intended to permanently deprive by destroying the property
Velumyl: permanently deprived company of banknotes even if d intended to replace them with banknotes of the same value
Lavender: court ruled that the dictionary definition of ‘dispose of’ was too narrow as disposal could include ‘dealing with’ the property
Lloyd: ‘the goodness, the virtue, the practical value’ was not lost

Question 33

Conditional intent

Answer 33

Where d may examine property to determine whether there is value in stealing it. D will then return property if prized items were not found.

Question 34

Conditional intent - case

Answer 34

Easom: replaced item without taking anything.