Theft act 1968

Question 1

What is the first section Within the Theft act of 1968

Answer 1

Theft.

Question 2

Do you remember the definition?

Answer 2

A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.

Question 3

What are the 5 fingers that are required to prove a theft has occurred?

Answer 3

1. Dishonestly
2. Appropriates
3. Property
4. Belonging to another
5. Intention to permanently deprive

Question 4

Section 2 of the theft act covers the dishonesty test, what are the 3 defences for dishonesty, and can you name the relevant case law (for bonus points?

Answer 4

• Law – believes he had a right in law to deprive the other of it.
• Consent – believes the owner would have consented in the circumstances.
• Reasonable steps – took reasonable steps to find the owner.

the current case law is case Ivey v Genting Casinos (uk) [2017] or R v Gosh [1982] is the old standard.

Question 5

Section 3 is about the term appropriate what does this mean in the legal sense, and for bones points can you name any case law regarding this section?

Answer 5

An appropriation of property is an assumption of the rights of the owner including where he comes by the property innocently and later deals with it as an owner. This appropriation will be regarded as Theft (R v Hinks 2000) (R v Morris, Anderton v Burnside (1984))

Question 6

Section 4 relates to property, what can be considered property under this act?

Answer 6

Property includes – money, personal property, real estate, things in action and other intangibles

Land itself cannot be stolen, however soil or turf can be though. If you cultivate plants, trees or flowers – they can be stolen Case law Oxford v Moss 1979

Wild creatures, tamed or untamed, are property. They cannot be stolen unless – they are ordinarily kept in captivity, or they have been reduced into possession and possession has not been lost or abandoned

Question 7

Under section 4 there are the 4 F’s that are not considered property, what are they and under what circumstance can they be considered property to steal?

Answer 7

Wildflowers, Fungi, Foliage and Fruit

they are not considered property unless they are picked for the sale or commercial gain of the person picking them.

Question 8

Section 6 regards the intention to permanently deprive. what constitutes permanently depriving?

Answer 8

To permanently deprive means to – consume, sell, destroy, leaving it anywhere it can’t be found. Or period/circumstance and parting under a condition. [R v Lavender 1994]

Question 9

Section 13 of the Theft act 1968 is the Abstracting Electricity, what is the definition?

Answer 9

“A person is guilty of the offence, if they dishonestly and without due authority use electricity or cause it to be wasted or diverted.”

Question 10

Section 13 Was an addition to the theft act, why was a separate offence needed for this?

Answer 10

Electricity does not come under the definition of Property as set out within section 4, there for technically cannot be stolen. hence why this section was created.

Question 11

Section 9 of the theft act covers burglary; do you remember the definition?

Answer 11

A person is guilty of burglary if—

(a)he enters any building or part of a building as a trespasser and with intent to - Steal anything within the building or part of the building, inflict GBH on anyone therein or do unlawful damage to the building or anything therein.

(b)having entered any building or part of a building as a trespasser he steals or attempts to steal anything in the building or that part of it or inflicts or attempts to inflict on any person therein any grievous bodily harm.

Question 12

What is the necessity for the term building to be accepted?

Answer 12

Buildings must have some form of permanence to count,

therefor a tent would not count. A static caravan would count if being lived in, however would not count if it was not being lived in as it counts as a premises and not a building

Question 13

With regard to 9(1)a Where does the intent have to be formed?

Answer 13

Intention must be formed before they enter the house
Irrelevant that the things the person intended to steal, or damage were not there, or that the victim of an intended GBH was not present

Question 14

What is the difference between 9(1)a and 9(1)b for burglary?

Answer 14

9(1)a requires intent before entering a building or part of a building and includes unlawful damage and does not require the object of their intent be actually present.

9(1)b does not require intent and requires that the person actually steal or attempts to steal or inflicts GBH or attempts to inflict GBH on anyone therein. However, it does remove unlawful damage.

Question 15

Section 10 of the Theft act covers Aggravated burglary. What acronym is used to convey the articles required to meet this section?

Answer 15

WIFE
Weapon of offence
Imitation firearm
Firearm
Explosive

Question 16

What is the technicality regarding aggravated burglary that makes it hard to prove?

Answer 16

A person who commits any burglary and at the time has with them any: WIFE.

this means that a person must have with them at the time of the burglary. if they enter a room and then pick up an item within that room, then it does not count. it would only count if they took the same item into another room and committed a burglary with or using that item.

Question 17

Section 8 of the theft act is around Robbery, what is the definition?

Answer 17

A person commits robbery who steals and immediately before or at the time of doing so and in order to do so uses force on any person or puts, or seeks to put any person in fear of being then and there subjected to force.

Question 18

Within the definition, it states “Immediately before or at the time of doing so” what does this refer to?

Answer 18

Requires an unbroken chain of events between the force being used and the theft, even though many hours may have elapsed.
Case law Smith v Desmond and Hall [1965]

it also relates to the force used, as it must be used for the theft and not anything else such as a way to escape.

Question 19

For robbery what degree of force is necessary and who must it be used on?

Answer 19

Force can be a mere nudge. It is not necessary to show that a robber used force. A person must be capable of understanding or feeling fear. This leads to many confusing cases; however, the fear can be passed onto a third party if all members involved can comprehend the situation and the fear associated.

Question 20

What is necessary for either a robbery or burglary to take place?

Answer 20

A theft. There are some instances for burglary, however a theft and its 5 Fingers still need to be proved for both offences otherwise it will not count.

Question 21

TWOC or taking without consent relates to conveyances; what is a conveyance?

Answer 21

conveyance” means any conveyance constructed or adapted for the carriage of a person or persons whether by land, water or air, except that it does not include a conveyance constructed or adapted for use only under the control of a person not carried in or on it

Question 22

Can a person that TWOC’s on behalf of another still be done?

Answer 22

Yes, if you take for the sake of another it is still an offence, however, the third party in this case would only be guilty if they were aware that there is no consent. if they are under the belief of consent then they would have a defence.

Question 23

What can constitute an Aggravated TWOC?

Answer 23

• Driving dangerously
• Injury to any person as the result of an accident
• Damage to any property other than that vehicle as a result of an accident
• Damage was caused to the vehicle.

Question 24

Section 25 of the theft act relates to going equipped, what is the definition?

Answer 24

A person shall be guilty of an offence if, when not at his place of abode, he has with him any article for use in the course of or in connection with any burglary or theft

Question 25

What do they mean by the term has with?

Answer 25

this relates to having any item that is made or intended to be used for a theft or burglary on him physically or has it readily accessible such as within a backpack, in their car or hidden near by