Theft (Paper 1) Flashcards
Act of Parliament which defines theft
Section 1 Theft Act 1968
Definition of theft
Dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another, with the intention to permanently deprive
Actus reus of theft
Appropriation of property belonging to another
Section 3 defines appropriation as
Assuming the rights of an owner
Case which said any assumption is enough
Morris
Decision in Gomez
The appropriation must be dishonest
Side rule for consent
If D had consent to take the property, this still an appropriation (Lawrence)
Hinks held you can appropriate property if you receive it as
A gift
Four types of property which can be stolen under section 4
Money, personal, real, intangible
Property that cannot be stolen
Knowledge, wild animals and plants, electricity
Definition of belonging to another under section 5
Property belongs to another if they have possession or control over it, or a right or interest in it
You can steal your own property
True (Turner)
Lost property
Original owner still has a right or interest in it
Ruling from Basildon
Owner must have an intention to abandon property
Case which said you must use money for the purpose intended
Davidge v Bennett
Receiving money by mistake
You are under an obligation to return it (A.G’s Reference)
Mens rea of theft
Dishonesty and the intention to permanently deprive
Three negatives in section 2 under which D will not be dishonest
They believe they have a right in law to the property, D believes the owner would have consented to the taking, owner cannot be discovered by taking reasonable steps
Dishonesty test confirmed in Ivey v Genting Casinos and R v Barton & Booth
Was D dishonest by the standard of an honest and reasonable person
Meaning of intention to permanently deprive
D intends to continue to treat the property as if it is their own, regardless of the owner’s rights
Decision in Velumyl
If you intended to replace property, you still have the intention to permanently deprive
Case that said there’s an intention to permanently deprive if you take the ‘goodness, value, and virtue’
Lloyd
Conditional intent rule
If you only intend to steal if there is something worth stealing, this is not an intention to permanently deprive (Easom)
