Theft, Robbery And Burglary Flashcards
Theft act and section
S.1 Theft Act 1968
Robbery act and section
S.8 Theft Act 1968
Burglary act and section
S.9(1)(a) and S.9(1)(b) Theft Act 1968
Theft statutory offence
A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it
Robbery statutory offence
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 fear of being then or there subjected to force
Burglary statutory offence
S.9(1)(a)
A person is guilty of burglary if he enters any building as a trespasser with intent to steal, inflict GBH or do unlawful damage to the building or anything in it
Burglary statutory offence
S.9(1)(b)
A person is guilty of burglary if, having entered a building or part of a building as a trespasser, he steals or attempts to steal anything in the building or inflicts or attempts to inflict GBH on any person in the building
Burglary statutory offence
S.9(2)
The offences referred to in ss(1)(a) are offences of stealing anything in the building or part of the building in question or inflicting GBH on any person and of doing unlawful damage to the building
Burglary statutory offence
S.9(4)
References to ss(1) and (2) to as building and the reference in ss(3) to a building which is a dwelling, shall apply to any such vehicle or vessel when the person having the habitation in it is not there as well as at times when he is
Properties of the offence of theft
Dishonest - s.2 Appropriation - s.3 Property - s.4 Belonging to another - s.5 Intention to permanently deprive - s. 6
Properties of the offence of robbery
Steals Immediately before Time Order to do so Force Fear of force
Properties of the offence of burglary s.9(1)(a)
Defendant must intend to do one of the three listed offences at the time of entering. It does not matter that they don’t actually go through with the theft.
Properties of the offence of burglary s.9(1)(b)
What the defendant intends on entry is irrelevant, but the prosecution must prove that he actually committed or attempted to commit theft or GBH
Other key features of the offence of theft
All elements of this definition must be satisfied for the defendant to be guilty. Theft is a triable either way offence with a maximum penalty of 7 years
Other key features of the offence of robbery
A theft that is aggravated by the use of force. The maximum sentence is life imprisonment. There must be a completed theft for a robbery to have been committed so all of the elements of theft must be present
Other key features of the offence of burglary
If convicted of burglary of a dwelling (home) the defendant could be imprisoned for up to 14 years. Any other conviction for burglary could get up to 10 years imprisonment
What acts is theft governed by?
Theft Acts 1968 and 1978.
The reasons Act 1968 was updated was because it contained many legal loopholes
Theft MR
Dishonesty
Intention to permanently deprive
Theft AR
Appropriation
Property
Belonging to another
Where is appropriation defined?
S.3 of the Theft Act 1968, written as s.3 Theft Act 1968
S.3(1) Theft Act 1968 states
Any assumption by a person of the rights of an owner amounts to an appropriation.
The thief must do something which assumes one of the owners rights
Morris
Appropriation
A defendant only has to assume a single right of the owner to satisfy an appropriation
It is enough for the prosecution if they have proved the assumption of any of the rights of the owner of the goods in question
Pitham and Hehl
Appropriation
Appropriation by assuming the right to sell
Appropriation by assuming the right to sell
The offer to sell is an assumption of the owner and and the appropriation took place at that point even if the owner was never deprived of it
Appropriation by assuming the owners right to destroy property
If the defendant destroys property belonging to another he can be charged with theft. They can also be charged with theft if they throw the other person’s property away
Lawrence
Appropriation
Appropriation when the victim had given consent
Defendant argued that he had not appropriated the property because the student had consented him to taking it, this argument was rejected
Gomez
Appropriation
Appropriation when the victim has given consent
Appropriation had taken place, there was no need for adverse interference with or usurpation of some right of the owner
Hinks
Appropriation
To be guilty of theft the defendant need not do anything contrary to the owner’s wishes. Even when there has been no deception an appropriation can still occur.
The defendant was dishonest meaning they can be guilty of stealing
A later assumption of a right
Can be an appropriation when the defendant acquires property without stealing it if the decide to deal or sell the property as the owner
Appropriation cannot be a continuing act
If someone picked up your bag and continued to use it from that point, the moment of appropriation would have occured when the bag was first touched
Atakpu and Abrahams
Appropriation
A later assumption of a right
Appropriation cannot be a continuing act
Property is defined in
Section 4 of the Theft Act 1968
S.4 Theft Act 1968 states that
Property includes money and all other property real or personal, including things in action and other intangible property
Property can be
Money
Real property - land and buildings
Personal property - movable items such as books
Things in action - bank account
Other intangible property - patent, export quota
Kelly and Lindsay
Property
Personal property
They were convicted of theft and appealed on the ground that body parts were not property but they were property of the college
Real property legal terms for land and buildings
S.4(2) states when land can be stolen:
Where a trustee or personal representative takes land in breach of his duties
Someone not in possession of land severs anything forming part of the land from the land
A tenant takes a fixture or structure from the land let to him
Example of theft of real property
1972 a man was prosecuted for stealing Cleckheaton Railway station by dismantling it and removing it
Kohn
Property
Things in action
Meant to write cheques to pay off the companies debt but instead made out cheques to pay off his own debt
Things in action
A thing in action is a right which can be enforced against another person by an action in law. The right itself is property under s.4
AG for Hong Kong v Chan Nai-Keung
Property
Other intangible property
A director of two different companies sold a quota from one to another at an undervalued price
Other intangible property
Refers to other rights which have no physical presence but can be stolen under the Theft Act
Things that can’t be stolen and the sections
S.4(3) mushrooms growing wild or anything from a plant growing wild
S4(4) wild creatures, tamed or untamed
Confidential information
Electricity
Oxford v Moss
Property
Things which cannot be stolen
Confidential information cannot be stolen
A student that acquired an exam paper he was meant to sit. Knowledge of the questions was held not to be property
Low v Blease
Property
Electricity is not property in terms of the Theft Act but a person can be guilty under a different offence if they divert power to their own property
Belonging to another act
Defined in section 5 of the Theft Act 1968
S.5 Theft Act 1968 states that
Property shall be regarded as belonging to any person having possession or control of it or having it in any proprietary right or interest (not being an equitable interest arising only from an agreement to transfer or grant an interest)
