Theft and Robbery Flashcards
1) Introduction - S.1
D may be guilty of theft/robbery under the Theft Act 1968. S.1 states ‘a person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive the other of it.’
2) Appropriation - s.3(1)
S.3(1) defines appropriation as ‘any assumption by a person of the rights of an owner…deal with the property as the owner.’ In Morris, D appropriated the owners rights by switching labels, which only the owner has the right to do.
3) Property - s.4
Under S.4 ‘property includes money & all other property, real or personal, including things in action & other intangible property’. In Corcoran v Anderton, the bag was personal property.
- Real property - refers to land and anything fixed to land.
- Personal property - refers to physical/movable property other than land.
- Things in action - personal property which can only be claimed by action.
- Intangible property - property which has no physical existence.
4) Belonging to another s.5(1)
Belonging to another is defined in S.5(1) as ‘property shall be regarded as belonging to any person having possession or control of it, or having in it any proprietary rights or interest’.
(Stealing own property (Turner). )
(S.5(3) - property given to D to be dealt with in a particular way & hasn’t been done.)
(S.5(4) - D receives property by mistake & fails to return it to rightful owner, it could amount to theft.’)
5) AR of robbery - s.8(1)
S.8(1) states ‘a person is guilty of robbery if he uses force at the time of, or immediately before, the theft & in order to steal’. This includes D threatening to use force.
6) Dishonest - s.2(1)
The D’s actions must be dishonest. There is no definition of dishonesty in the Act. The test for dishonesty was outlined by the Supreme court as ‘has D been dishonest by the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest people?’
(S.2(1) states what will not be considered dishonest:
- believes right in law (s.2(1a)).
- believes other consented (s.2(1b)).
- believes person cannot be discovered (s.2(1c)). )
7) Intention to permanently deprive s.6(1)
S.6(1) defines an intention to permanently deprive. ‘A person is to be regarded as having the intention of permanently depriving the other of it if his intention is to treat the thing as his own to dispose of.’
8) MR of robbery
D must have intention as to the use or threat of force in order to steal. This considers whether it was D’s main aim or purpose to use or threaten to use force in order to steal (Mohan).
