Unit 4 Lesson 1: Crimes of Disorder Flashcards
Highlight the essential elements of Breach of the Peace.
- Common law crime
- Can be commited by one or a number of people
- The conduct of the person(s) must be riotous or disorderly
- The conduct must be severe enough to cause alarm to ordinary people and threaten serious disturbance to the community
Explain Section 38 of The Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010.
Creates and offence for any person to:
- behave in a threatening or abusive manner
- where the behaviour is likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm and
- the person behaving in such a manner intends the behaviour to cause fear or alarm, or
- is reckless as to whether the behaviour would cause fear or alarm
What are your options when faced with a breach of the peace?
You may:
- warn the culprit or,
- Issue a fixed penalty notice, or
- Report for summons, or
- Arrest
What is the advice of the crown office when evidence provides a choice between a breach of the peace or threatening and abusive behaviour (s.38 CJL(S)A2010)
The section 38 should be the preferred charge.
Explain Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003
a) guilty of an offense if they:
- send grossly offensive or indecent/obscene/menacing message via public electronic communications network
- or causes such message to be sent
b) guilty of for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety, they:
- send a message they know to be false via PECN
- causes such message to be sent
- or persistently makes use of a PECN
Explain the legislation for the offence of ‘stalking’.
Section 39 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010.
Requires:
- course of conduct (two or more times)
- conduct is intended to cause fear or alarm, or
- the person ought to have known the conduct would cause fear or alarm, and
- it does in fact cause the victim fear or alarm
Provide examples of conduct that may constitute stalking.
- following the victim or any other person
- contacting or attempting to contact the victim or any other person by any means
- publishing any statement or other material relating or purporting to relate to the victim or to any other person or purporting to originate from the victim or from any other person
- monitoring the use by the victim or by any other person of the internet, email or any other form of electronic communication
- entering any premises (anywhere occupied by the victim)
- loitering in any place (whether public or private)
- interfering with any property in the possession of the victim or of any other person
- giving anything to the victim or to any other person or leaving anything where it may be found by, given to or brought to the attention of the victim of any other person
- watching or spying on the victim or any other person
- acting in any other way that a reasonable person would expect would cause the victim to suffer fear or alarm
Name the four distinct stalking behaviours.
F - Fixated
O - Obsessive
U - Unwanted
R - Repeated
