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*ALL* Criminal LAW TP2 NOTES!!
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Criminal LawNotes
TP2
,Week 15
Theft
Definition:
• S.1 TA 1968 ‘A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property
belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it’
TA 1968 provides us with 5 requirements that need to be established:
POINTS TO PROVE:
s.2 Dishonesty;
s.3 Appropriates;
s.4 Property;
s.5 Belonging to another;
s.6 With the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.
So, Section 1. TA 1968 requires:
‘A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with
the intention of permanently depriving the other of it’
What is Appropriation - s.3 TA 1968
Defined s.3(1) TA 1968:
‘any assumption by a person of the rights of an owner amounts to an appropriation, and
this includes, where he has come by the property (innocently or not) without stealing it, any
later assumption of a right to it by keeping or dealing with it as an owner’
Breaking s.3(1) down
Key element: ‘any assumption by a person of the rights of an owner amounts to an
appropriation’
Requires ASSUMPTION OF THE RIGHTS OF AN OWNER, achieved in 8 ways:
1. Selling;
2. Destroying;
3. Possessing;
4. Consuming;
5. Using it;
6. Lending it;
7. Hiring it;
8. Sell Prop.
9. Keeping it
KEY CASE: Pitman v. Hehl (1977)
1) D sold furniture belonging to another – held to be appropriation – offer to sell was
assumption of rights of owner.
2) It mattered not whether furniture was removed from house, irrespective of the fact
the owner was never deprived of property, D’ had still appropriated property via
offering for sale!
,What if there is consent without deception? s.3 TA 1968:
C. LATER ASSUMPTIONS OF RIGHT – s.3(1)
There can be an appropriation where D’ acquires prop without stealing it!
Appropriation occurs where the D’ later decides to keep or deal with prop as the
owner.
C1. WHEN DOES APPROPRIATION OCCUR?
Occurs at point that D’:
Keeps property; or
Deals property as an owner
The Actus Reus of Theft
• Property - s.4 TA 1968
Property – what do we mean – s.4 TA 68
For there to be a theft the:
D’ must have “Appropriated Property”
DEFINITION
S.4(1) TA 1968:
“Property” includes money and all other property real or personal, including things in
action and other intangible prop”.
5 types of Property – s.4(1) TA 68
Section Lists 5 Types Of Items Which Are Included In The Definition
1. Money
2. Real Property
3. Personal Property
4. Things in action
5. Other intangible prop
Money:
• Coins and banknotes of any currency
Personal Property:
• Includes tangible personal property which might be described as “things in
possession”.in other words, moveable items.
• Examples: Books, cd’s, jewellery etc.
• Can also include large items such as aeroplanes or tanks
, Other Property:
• Water is property
• Gas is property
• Electricity is not. Separate offence of Abstracting Electricity s13 1968 Act.
• Can a motorist be convicted of stealing a specimen of his own urine given for
specimen purposes?
REAL PROPERTY – s.4(1)
Defined – Land and Buildings
Land can be stolen but only in the following 3 ways (s4(2)
1. Trustees or PR – taking land in breach of duties as trustee or PR;
2. Someone not in possession of land (digging something up, removing wall by
taking bricks)
3. Tenant taking fixture or structure from land let to him.
Things in Action:
Defined:
“As a right which can be enforced against another person by an action in law “
• Includes bank accounts and cheques
Example:
• If offender causes a bank to debit another person’s account by £50 (the victim), and
transfer’s £50 in to his/her account, he/she has appropriated a thing in action
belonging to the victim (namely V’s right to claim the relevant amount from the bank
i.e., £50)
Other intangible property:
• This refers to other rights which have no physical presence but can be stolen e.g. a
patent or trademark
• In AG for Hong Kong v Nai –Keung(1987) an export quota for textiles was intangible
property which could be stolen
Is Information intangible property?
• Can you steal the contents of an examination paper? Oxford v Moss 1979
• In other words, can you read the questions, memorise them and then put the paper
back? Guilty or not?
Things which cannot be stolen:
• s4(3): wild mushrooms and plants (includes any shrub or tree) cannot be stolen
unless they are intended to be sold for commercial reward.
• It is possible to steal cultivated examples of the above and also ones which belong to
someone.
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