Robbery - Criminal Law Flashcards
What is robbery
-Under section 8 of the theft act 1968 it states “a person is guilty of robbery if he steals and 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 the fear of being then and there subjected to force”
What is the actus reus for robbery
The theft and the force or seeking to put anybody in the fear of force
What is the men’s rea for robbery
The mr needs to satisfy that the defendant had the mr to steal and intended to use force in doing so
What always has to be present for a robbery to be a robbery
All the elements of theft have to be met for their to have been a robbery
In R v Zerei there was no theft because D had abandoned the car he took despite using violence of V to take it there was no robbery
What does the Concoran v Anderson case state
The case states that when force is used and theft is complete we have a robbery
What constitutes force or threat of force
- In P v DPP it was held that no direct contact between D and V meant no robbery
- Putting V in fear of force is enough for robbery
- In some situations such as the B and R v DPP case there can be a robbery even when the victim does not appear to actually be frightened
- ‘on any person’ means that the person threatened does not have to be the person from whom the theft occurs
- R v Dawson and James showed that the amount of force used could be small
What was the significance of the R v Lockley case
Despite force being used after V caught D shoplifting the Court of appeal upheld the conviction as the theft was ongoing and not yet complete
What does force have to be used for in a robbery
- Force must be used for the purpose of stealing
- The mr for robbery therefore must be the specific intention for theft but also to use force to permanently deprive the other of the property
- If you use force for another reason it isn’t robbery even if D decides afterwards to steal
