THEFT

Question 1

What are the actus reus elements of theft?

Answer 1

Appropriation (s3 TA 1968)
Property (s4 TA 1968)
Belonging to another (s5 TA 1968)

Question 2

What is the mens rea of theft?

Answer 2

Dishonesty

Intention to permanently deprive

Question 3

How can the appropriation element be satisfied?

Answer 3

Theft Act 1968, s 3(1): ‘Any assumption by a person of the rights of an owner amounts to an appropriation …’

Question 4

Can appropriation still occur if consent has been given?

Answer 4

yes - R v Gomez

Question 5

Can appropriation still occur if something has been gifted?

Answer 5

yes - R v Hinks

Question 6

What happens is D doesn’t have the mens rea when first assuming the owners right but does later on?

Answer 6

s3(1) TA 1968 provides for a later assumption of the owner’s rights.

Question 7

In what circumstances will a defendant be exempt from liability for theft?

Answer 7

• an innocent purchaser

- where D purchases goods in good faith

Question 8

What does property include in the theft act 1968?

Answer 8

money and all other property real or personal (including things in action and other intangible property) (s4(1))

• not plants growing in the wild (s4(3)) unless using for a commercial purpose
• not wild animals (s4(4)) but tamed/ pet animals

Question 9

How is belonging to another defined?

Answer 9

S5(1) TA 1968:

• any person having possession or control of it, or having in it any proprietary right or interest
• this includes having possession/ control over the land upon which it was found

Question 10

Can property be abandoned?

Answer 10

• Property can cease to belong to another if it has been abandoned. However, the courts do not readily find that property has been abandoned.
• Not abandoned if householders put it in their domestic waste (Williams v Phillips)
• Property is not abandoned just because the owner has stopped looking for it.

Question 11

Can you steal your own property?

Answer 11

Usually no but R v Turner (No2) shows that you can if someone else is in possession or control of the property

Question 12

What happenes in cases where property is obtained by another’s mistake?

Answer 12

• Section 5(4)property to belong to another for the purposes of the Act.
• Under the law of restitution, when someone is aware they have acquired property by a mistake they are usually under a legal obligation to restore it.
• where money is given by a mistake, restitution is always available.
• s5(1) - person who gives property by mistake retains an equitable interest (Chase Manhattan bank)

Question 13

What are the 3 exceptions to dishonesty?

Answer 13

• s 2(1)(a)-D has a right in law to deprive the other of the property;
• s 2(1)(b)-D would have the other’s consent if the other person knew; or
• s 2(1)(c)-the person to whom the property belongs cannot be discovered by taking reasonable steps.

Question 14

What is the test for dishonesty?

Answer 14

Ivey v Genting Casinos

(i) What was the defendant’s knowledge and belief as to the facts? (subjective)
(ii) Given that knowledge and those beliefs, was the defendant dishonest by the standards of ordinary decent people? (objective)

Question 15

Can you appropriate property despite willing to pay for it?

Answer 15

yes you can s2(2)

Question 16

What happens if a person forms the dishonest intent after ownership of the property has passed?

Answer 16

• The dishonest intent must be formed at a time when the goods belong to another.
• could be making off without payment charge unders 3 Theft Act 1978

Question 17

Explain the intention to permanently deprive element.

Answer 17

• s 1(1)requires that the accused must ‘intend to permanently deprive’ the owner of their property.
• There is no requirement that the owner is actually deprived of their property permanently.
• if intent is not found, s6(1) extends the meaning to cover circumstances where D intends to treat the thing as their own to dispose of

Question 18

What amounts to “treating the property as their own to dispose of”?

Answer 18

• attempting to sell the owner their own property
• the defendant using the owner’s property for bargaining (ransom cases)
• intending to treat it in a manner that risks its loss
• more than dealing with it
• rendering the property useless

Question 19

When can borrowing be treating the property as your own to dispose of?

Answer 19

R v LLoyd - when it is returned without all its goodness, virtue and practical value
s6(2) - when a person parts with the property under a condition as to its return but they may not be able to perform the condition.

Question 20

Is returning notes and coins of an equivalent value the same as intending to return the identical ones?

Answer 20

No - interchangeable property, it is not the same