Theft And Related Flashcards
Can the offence of low value shoplifting be attempted even though it is summary?
Yes
John finds a pound on the floor at a football match. He pockets it. He formed a belief that it would not be reasonable to attempt to trace the owner so doesn’t try. Has he committed an offence?
No - it is not necessary for the person who found the coin to have exhausted all reasonable steps to trace the owner.
If someone leaves money to pay. Can they still be deemed dishonest?
Yes - this may be deemed dishonest still
Is it theft if I exceed funds in my overdraft?
No
Do you commit theft if you pick fruit growing wild in someone’s garden?
No - unless if you do it for sale, reward or other commercial purpose.
Do you commit an offence if you pick cultivated plants/fruit/flowers/foliage?
Yes
If Grandma picks flowers for use at home but later decides to sell them to Josie. Is it theft?
No - must have the intent at the time
Is a corpse property that can be stolen?
No. Unless it has been amputated, dissected or preservation
Is it theft if a bookies provides a punter with too much change?
No - it is not legally enforceable. Other shops are.
Is stealing gas during a burglary a burglary?
Yes - electricity is not
What happens if Joe pushes me into a house and i steal. Burglary?
No this is theft. The trespass must be deliberate.
Someone breaks into a camper van. Is it burglary?
Only if it can be proved that someone was living in it or it is used for that purposes.
Faye gives us a key to water their plants. I go in and steal their TV. Burglary?
Yes - the implied condition of entry was to water plants not to take the TV
Jim burgles a factory. He hands a box with the word bomb written on it. He doesn’t actually have a bomb. Aggravated burglary?
No - however it will constitute a weapon of offence it may be an article made for causing incapacity to a person if the note says if you move…
If you steal a WIFE from a house is it aggravated??
Yes as at the time of committing a burglary, the suspect had a WIFE
Joe is given permission to go to Southend for a building supply pick up. He instead goes to London on the piss. TWOC?
Yes as it is an entirely different purpose
If i use a fake driving license to get a hired car is it TWOC?
No
Is it only cars that can be TWOC’d?
No - anything constructed or adapted to carry a person by either land, water or air. Does not include animals but does not need to have an engine.
Jim and Ken break into a vehicle and drive it in order to wind their mate up. Is it TWOC?
No the purpose of moving it must be to enable themselves or another to be carried
Steven picks me up in a car I suspect is stolen. Do I commit TWOC?
NO - i must know for a fact it is stolen.
Op Baltimore lot run off from a TWOC’d car. All deny driving. Can they be charged with TWOC?
Yes all can be charged with being carried.
Can you get an aggravated TWOC of anything other than a car?
No only a mechanically propelled vehicle.
If SImon TWOC’s a car and drives dangerously in a field, is it agg TWOC?
No the driving dangerous bit must be public
For vehicle interference they must be stealing within or on or TWOC’ing. Do we need to prove which one?
No just one of them
Do I commit abstracting electricity if I use the internet at work without their permission?
Yes and phone calls
Gallagher buys a TV believing it to be stolen. Handling?
Yes - knowing or believing but not suspect.
Can you commit going equipped if the article is at another dwelling?
Yes - as long as it is not your place of abode
I decided to dig up June’s bush and take it with me before I go to mainland. Theft?
No becuase I am a tenant. It also doesn’t matter if I am in arrears. I could steal things from within though.
What if my iPad is burgled and I go the paper and say I have lost it and wish to put out a reward with no questions asked. Is the paper still guilty?
Yes it is a strict liability offence.
Can you blackmail someone into having sex?
No
Lucy borrows my car telling me she is using it to go to work. She actually goes to Lucy’s. Twoc?
No there has still been consent
If i go into a shop, Sarah slips something into my bag and i leave without making any attempt to pay. Mahmood comes up to me and asks me for the game and i hand it over. Is it theft?
Yes - because i have assumed the rights of the owner even if i have come into possession innocently.
Me and Lucy make off from a meal without paying. We intend on returning tomorrow to pay. MOWP?
No
I take Lucy’s car to go to the shop. I didn’t think she would mind however she reports me for theft. Offence?
I would have to show that I believed that Lucy would have consented if she had known AND the circumstances it was taken
How do you define ‘knowing’ for TWOC and handling?
One feels absolutely sure or virtually certain
Can you commit agg TWOC solely in a car park?
Yes - doesn’t have to be a road
For aggravated vehicle taking must a crash causing damage be on a road
The accident can take place anywhere and need not be on a road,
A prick pocket takes a purse out of a handbag however is disturbed and drops the purse before running away. Theft?
Yes - they appropriated the property at the time they took it. Appropriation can be a short period of time.
A tourist gives the taxi driver his wallet to take his taxi fare out. The driver takes more than what he was owed. Theft?
Yes
Someone buys a £5000 car for £200 in a pub. Is this a theft?
Yes - although they have purchased the vehicle and have assumed the rights of the owner by taking the car, they have not acted in good faith.
Is gas property that can be stolen?
Yes
What if Lucy steals my money from my account. Is it theft?
Yes provided:
- my account is in credit
- within the limit of an approved overdraft facility
If funds stolen exceed an overdraft limit = no theft.
Can you steal things growing wild on private land?
It makes no difference whether it is private or not. They are growing WILD. Only theft if it is for sale, reward or other commercial purpose.
I catch a fish and leave it next to me. I forget about it and leave. Can someone ‘steal’ that fish and be guilty of theft?
No - if I leave it and forget it, the fish reverts back to its wild state so it cannot be stolen.
Is donated blood, urine or sperm property that can be stolen?
Yes
Euan’s car breaks down. The garage are fixing it. He is fed up with how long it is taking so breaks in and takes his car. We know this is a theft however do we have to prove who owns the car?
No - we just have to prove that the property belonged to somebody other than the accused not a specific individual.
Can a person be prosecuted for theft from their own spouse or civil partner?
Yes but the authority of DPP is required for theft, burglary or robbery.
Unless they were separated by judicial decree or order then no authority required.
Me and Euan decide to steal something of Kayleigh’s. Do we need permission to prosecute for theft as Euan and Kayleigh are married?
No - if it was just Euan then yes from DPP but as it is both of us then no.
Someone lends us a fridge and we secure it in our integrated Kitchen. Theft?
Yes - as we have treated the property as our own. It has been held in such circumstances that we have made restoration unlikely or impossible.
Euan lends me his laptop. I deliberately break it before returning it. Theft? Or damage?
Theft.
Is it theft if i tell Lucy that if she doesn’t pay me, i wont give her her car back?
Yes - offence complete as soon as the threat is made (as the property may not be returned)
Dave lends me his season ticket for one game. I however keep the ticket and watch a few before returning it. Theft?
Yes as i have borrowed it beyond the scope of the agreed terms. My actions have exceed the scope of the lending and my actions will have amounted to an outright taking.
I am paid too much overtime. I decide to keep it. Theft?
Yes - if i receive something by mistake i am obliged to restore it to the person who made the mistake. Failure to do so will form an intention to permanently deprive the other of the property.
I take a coat from a rack in a shop and intend to steal it. I however have a change of heart and put it back. Theft?
Yes - at the time of the appropriation i had the intention to permanently deprive another of their property.
What extent is required to cross a boundary?
A person will have been deemed to have entered by crossing a boundary if there entry is EFFECTIVE. This is a question of fact determined by the jury.
putting a coat hanger through a letterbox to open the door. Burglary?
No - if it is to facilitate entry only - not an effective entry. No burglary.
If it is to steal, GBH or damage then it will be an effective entry.
If someone breaks into a Taylor Wimpey portacabin, is it a burglary?
Yes - whilst they are portable they have a degree of permanence on a work site so they are a building.
If someone burgles our unfinished house, is it a burglary?
Yes - an uninhabited shell of an unfinished house is a building and can be burgled.
Can you burgle a tent?
No - lack of permanence. Even if it is lived in, it is not a building. Same with marquees.
Is a uninhabited caravan a building for the purpose of burglary>
No. It’s must be inhabited. The fact that it was designed for habitation is insufficient. We have to prove that somebody was living in it or that it was being used for that purpose. We don’t have to prove that someone was in it at the time.
Can you burgle a house boat?
Yes if it was inhabited.
