Receiving I

Question 1

Section and Penalty

Answer 1

S246(1) CA61

7 Years Imp (Exceeds $1000)
1 Year Imp ($500 - $1000)
3 Months Imp (Under $500)

Question 2

Elements

What is required to be proved

Answer 2

1. The act of receiving
2. Any property stolen or
3. Obtained by any other imprisonable offence
4. Knowing the property to be stolen or so obtained or
5. Being reckless whether or not the property had been stolen or so obtained

Question 3

Legislation

When is receiving complete

Answer 3

S246(3) CA61
The act of receiving is complete once the defendant has:
- Either exclusively or jointly with the thief or any other person,
- Possession or control of the property, or
- Has assisted in the concealment or disposition of the property
- If there is guilty knowledge at that point, the offence is complete.

Question 4

The “Act of Receiving”

Answer 4

The act of receiving requires the satisfaction of three elements:
1. There must be property which has been stolen or has been obtained by an imprisonable offence.

2. The defendant must have “received” that property, which requires that the receiving must be from another
   (you cannot receive from yourself).
3. The defendant must receive that property in the knowledge that it has been stolen or illegally obtained, or being reckless as to that possibility.

Question 5

Property Section 2, Crimes Act 1961

Answer 5

Property includes real and personal property, and any estate or interest in any real and personal property, money, electricity, and any debt, and anything in action, and any other right or interest.

Question 6

Concept of title

As defined by the Oxford Dictionary

Answer 6

‘A right or claim to the ownership of property’. Title or ownership of a thing is the legal right to possession of that thing.
Where property is obtained by deceptive means the offender gains both possession and title. However the type of title gained by the offender has limitations.

Question 7

Circumstantial evidence of guilty knowledge

Answer 7

Receipt
• receipt of goods at an unusual place 
• receipt of goods at an unusual time 
• receipt of good in an unusual way 
• secrecy in receiving the property 
• type of person goods received from 

Value
• mode of payment
• purchase at a gross undervalue
• absence of receipt where receipt would usually be issued

Property
• nature of the property, ie type, value, quantity
• lack of original packaging
• removal of identifying marks or features
• steps taken to disguise property, ie removal / altering of serial numbers, painting

Defendant
• nature of explanation given, eg false or inconsistent or no reasonable explanation
• false statements as to the source of the goods
• false statements as to the date of acquisition
• false denial of knowledge, existence etc
• possession of recently stolen property
• concealment of property to avoid discovery

Question 8

Doctrine of recent possession

Answer 8

Where a person is found in possession of stolen property reasonably soon after the theft, an inference may be drawn that the person in possession either stole the property or received it from the thief.

The doctrine applies only to cases where a defendant is found in possession of property recently stolen or obtained dishonestly.

Question 9

Taking

Answer 9

Section 219(4), Crimes Act 1961
For tangible property, theft is committed by a taking when the offender moves the property or causes it to be moved.