Theft
Theft is a statutory offence and so is defined in section 1 of the theft act 1968
as “dishonestly appropriating property belonging to another, with the intention
to permanently deprive the other of it”
The actus reus of theft is “appropriating property belonging to another” and is
explained throughout sections 3,4 and 5 of the theft act
Section 3 of the theft act 1968 defines appropriation as “any assumption by a
person of the rights of an owner amounts to appropriation”. So, thief must do
something that assumes one of the owners rights such as selling property. Lord
roskill in r v Morris (where he switched price labels on 2 items) stated that
“its enough for prosecution of they have proved... Assumption of any of the
rights of owner of goods in question”. Where owner has allowed D to take
something/ voluntarily given it, there can still be appropriation and this was
decided in the case of Lawrence where D opened his wallet and allowed Lawrence to
take how much he needed to cover cost of the taxi. This was later confirmed in r
v Gomez. In both these cases, deception occured as owner was deceived into
letting them take it so it wasn't true consent. Case of r v hinks decided that
even when there was no deception, there can still be appropriation depending on
whether the “ordinary and decent people would see act of accepting property as
dishonest”.
Section 4 defines property as “money and all other property, real or personal,
including things in action and other intangible property”. Money is coins and
Banknotes of any currency. Personal property covers all moveable items such as
jewellery. Real property is the legal term for lands and buildings and can only
be stolen if one of the 3 circumstances apply- if trustee takes land in breach of
his duties, someone not in possession of land severs anything forming part of the
land or tenant takes fixtures/structures from land let to him. A thing in action
is right that can be enforced against another in a court of law such as cheque or
bank account. Other intangible property refers to other rights that have no
physical presence but can be stolen such as a patent.
Some things can't be stolen as aren't deemed as property under the act and these
include knowledge and information (Oxford v Moss), plants and fungi growing wild
(unless taken with intention of financial gain), wild creatures (unless in
captivity, in possession of another or are tamed) and electricity
Property must belong to another and section 5 of the act defines this as “person
having possession or control of it, or having in it any proprietary right or
interest”. Possession or control involves the owner but can sometimes be that
someone else has temporarily possession or control over it. An owner can steal
his own property (r v turner- took car to garage, garage left it parked outside
so turner returned at night and took his car using the spare key without paying
for repairs- garage had temporary possession of the car) and someone can be in
possession/control even without knowing (r v woodman). Proprietary right/
interest means ownership and someone can still be guilty of stealing property
even if they have ownership as another person may have a proprietary right (r v
Webster- webster accidentally received a medal from ministry of defence and then
sold it on eBay).
Section 5 also states that one can still be guilty of stealing property even when
it no longer appears to “belong to another” and this is where D is acting
Theft is a statutory offence and so is defined in section 1 of the theft act 1968
as “dishonestly appropriating property belonging to another, with the intention
to permanently deprive the other of it”
The actus reus of theft is “appropriating property belonging to another” and is
explained throughout sections 3,4 and 5 of the theft act
Section 3 of the theft act 1968 defines appropriation as “any assumption by a
person of the rights of an owner amounts to appropriation”. So, thief must do
something that assumes one of the owners rights such as selling property. Lord
roskill in r v Morris (where he switched price labels on 2 items) stated that
“its enough for prosecution of they have proved... Assumption of any of the
rights of owner of goods in question”. Where owner has allowed D to take
something/ voluntarily given it, there can still be appropriation and this was
decided in the case of Lawrence where D opened his wallet and allowed Lawrence to
take how much he needed to cover cost of the taxi. This was later confirmed in r
v Gomez. In both these cases, deception occured as owner was deceived into
letting them take it so it wasn't true consent. Case of r v hinks decided that
even when there was no deception, there can still be appropriation depending on
whether the “ordinary and decent people would see act of accepting property as
dishonest”.
Section 4 defines property as “money and all other property, real or personal,
including things in action and other intangible property”. Money is coins and
Banknotes of any currency. Personal property covers all moveable items such as
jewellery. Real property is the legal term for lands and buildings and can only
be stolen if one of the 3 circumstances apply- if trustee takes land in breach of
his duties, someone not in possession of land severs anything forming part of the
land or tenant takes fixtures/structures from land let to him. A thing in action
is right that can be enforced against another in a court of law such as cheque or
bank account. Other intangible property refers to other rights that have no
physical presence but can be stolen such as a patent.
Some things can't be stolen as aren't deemed as property under the act and these
include knowledge and information (Oxford v Moss), plants and fungi growing wild
(unless taken with intention of financial gain), wild creatures (unless in
captivity, in possession of another or are tamed) and electricity
Property must belong to another and section 5 of the act defines this as “person
having possession or control of it, or having in it any proprietary right or
interest”. Possession or control involves the owner but can sometimes be that
someone else has temporarily possession or control over it. An owner can steal
his own property (r v turner- took car to garage, garage left it parked outside
so turner returned at night and took his car using the spare key without paying
for repairs- garage had temporary possession of the car) and someone can be in
possession/control even without knowing (r v woodman). Proprietary right/
interest means ownership and someone can still be guilty of stealing property
even if they have ownership as another person may have a proprietary right (r v
Webster- webster accidentally received a medal from ministry of defence and then
sold it on eBay).
Section 5 also states that one can still be guilty of stealing property even when
it no longer appears to “belong to another” and this is where D is acting
