Theft

Question 1

S 1 Theft Act (1968) - important

Answer 1

Theft is the

-dishonest

• Appropriation
• Of property
• Belonging to another
• with intention to permanently deprive the other

Question 2

S 3(1) Theft Act (1968) - important

Answer 2

Appropriation means ‘any assumptions of the rights of the owner’.

Question 3

R v Gomez (1993) - important

Answer 3

Assuming any one right of the owner is enough for an appropriation.

Question 4

R v Vinall (2011) - important
2 things

Answer 4

Both taking property and abandoning property amounts to an appropriation.

And

The timing of an appropriation is vital, because the AR and MR have to be present at the same time

Question 5

Lawrence v Commissioner for the Met Police (1972) - important

Answer 5

It is possible for there to be an appropriation even if v consents
(eg handing over a wallet in this case)

Question 6

S 4(1) Theft Act (1968) - important

Answer 6

Property includes ‘money and all other property, real or personal, including things in action and other intangible property’

Question 7

S 5(1) Theft Act (1986) - important

Answer 7

property belongs to another is they have either ‘possession or control’ of it.

Question 8

R Turner (1971) - important

Answer 8

It is possible for someone to steal their own property, if they have possession but someone else has control of it, e.g. a car temporarily in the control of a garage

Question 9

R v Webster (2006) - important

Answer 9

D can steal property they own even if another has a ‘proprietary interest’ in it

Question 10

Attorney General’s Reference no1 of 1983 (1985) - important

Answer 10

Property recieved by mistake is stolen if it is not retuerned when there is a legal obligation to do so

Question 11

R v Barton amd Booth (2020) - important

Answer 11

Confirmed the test for Dishonesty from Ivey v Genting: What was D’s actual state of knowledge or belief as to the facts? Was D’s conduct dishonest by the standards of decent ordinary people.

Question 12

S 2(1) Theft Act (1968) - important

Answer 12

D’s behaviour is not dishonest if D believes they have a legal right to the property; if D believes they would have had the other’s consent; or id D believes the owner cant be discovered by taking reasonable steps

Question 13

R v Robinson (1977) - important

Answer 13

An example of a behaviour that is not dishonest is D taking money that they thought they were owed by V.

Question 14

S 2(2) Theft Act (1968) - important

Answer 14

D’s willingness to pay for the property after they have been accused does not stop the appropriation from being dishonest.

Question 15

R v Vinall (2011)

Abandonment of property

Answer 15

Abandoning a bike a distance away from where it was initially taken is intention to permanently deprive.

Question 16

DPP v Lavender (1994) - important

Answer 16

Intention of permanently depriving includes ‘dealing with’ property in a way as if it was D’s own. (eg moving doors between council properties in this case)

Question 17

R v Loyd (1985) - important

Answer 17

Genuine borrowing is not theft unless it is for an unreasonably long time and has been used in a way which takes away ‘the goodness or virtue’ of the property.

Question 18

R v Easom (1971)

Answer 18

Conditional intent (eg checking a bag to see if there is anything worth stealing and the replacing it later is not enough to class as permanently depriving)