Theft: The dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it

Question 1

AR: appropriation, s3

Answer 1

Any assumption by a person of the rights of an owner

Eg:
Possessing something
Using it
Consuming it
Selling/exchanging it
Destroying it

Question 2

AR: Property, s4

Answer 2

Includes money and all other property, real or personal, including things in action and other intangible property.

Things that cannot be stolen as they are “not property”
Wild flowers (there are exceptions to this)
Wild animals (there are exceptions to this)

Question 3

AR: belonging to another, s5

Answer 3

Property shall be regarded as belonging to any person having possession or control or it, or having in it any proprietary right or interest.

Property that can be stolen includes:
Your own property (eg: stealing your car from the mechanic before he’s done).
Property left or donated.
Property you own but someone else has an interest in it (financial).
Property that has been given to do something specific with, but you do something else with it.
Property given to you by mistake.

Question 4

MR: Dishonestly, s2

Answer 4

Statutory exceptions: D will NOT be dishonest if:
● D has or believes he has a right in law to DEPRIVE owner of the property
● owner CAN NOT BE FOUND (eg: picking up a pound from the floor)
● if owner would CONSENT to D taking it (implied consent)
Test for all the above is a SUBJECTIVE one
Where none of the above apply, use the OBJECTIVE test of dishonesty:
● Test set out in Booth
● What did D believe at the time?
● Were D’s actions dishonest by the
standard of an ordinary decent person?
● Does not matter if D knows they are
being dishonest or not
D can be dishonest even if owner consents to the appropriation if D obtains consent dishonestly, such as by lying, which invalidates consent.

Question 5

MR: Intention to permanently deprive, s6

Answer 5

Includes:
- borrowing something but returning it in a different state
- taking something but replacing it with something else (eg: 500 pounds stolen, gambled, won profit, 500 pounds returned, it’s not the same money)
- a gift can still be an appropriation