Theft
• A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the
intention of permanently depriving the other of it. S 1 Theft Act 1968
• ACTUS REUS - appropriation of property belonging to another
A. property: s.4 TA 1968
• “Property” includes money and all other property, real or personal, including things in action and
other intangible property.’
• Land and things forming part of land cannot be stolen, although there are exceptions.
1. S 4 (2) (b) Land and things forming part of land can be stolen by trustees or beneficiaries acting in
breach of their fiduckary duty
2. Things forming part of the land can be stolen by trespasser who appropriates anything forming
part of the land by severing it or causing it to be severed, or after it has been severed
• 4(3) Wild flora and fauna cannot be stolen although there are exceptions.
• Wild flora, including mushrooms, can be stolen if picked for a commercial purpose
• 4(4) Wild animals, including their carcass cannot be stolen unless in the possession of another or in
the course of being reduced into another’s possession.
Property:
• Body parts
• Sharpe (1857) Kelly (1999), Welsh (1974 )
*what about mummies? can be stolen. if the corpse has been transformed into something else, it
takes upon attributes of property.
Doodeward v Spence - chief justice griffith
• Parts of a corpse are capable of being property within section 4 of the Theft Act, if they have
acquired different attributes by virtue of the application of skill, such as dissection or preservation
techniques, for exhibition or teaching purposes.
• Information
• Oxford v Moss (1978)
• Identifying the Property
• Cheques
• Chan Man Sin v A-G for Kong Kong (1988)
• Leaving without paying
B. Appropriation: "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 owner." (s.3 (1))
No need for a taking. Pitham and Hehl (1976) 65 CrApp R 45
What are the rights of ownership ?
• Possess, sell, use, destroy, pawn, lend, modify
• Morris (1984)
• In what ways can rights be assumed?
• Chan Man Sin v A-G for Kong Kong (1988)
• A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the
intention of permanently depriving the other of it. S 1 Theft Act 1968
• ACTUS REUS - appropriation of property belonging to another
A. property: s.4 TA 1968
• “Property” includes money and all other property, real or personal, including things in action and
other intangible property.’
• Land and things forming part of land cannot be stolen, although there are exceptions.
1. S 4 (2) (b) Land and things forming part of land can be stolen by trustees or beneficiaries acting in
breach of their fiduckary duty
2. Things forming part of the land can be stolen by trespasser who appropriates anything forming
part of the land by severing it or causing it to be severed, or after it has been severed
• 4(3) Wild flora and fauna cannot be stolen although there are exceptions.
• Wild flora, including mushrooms, can be stolen if picked for a commercial purpose
• 4(4) Wild animals, including their carcass cannot be stolen unless in the possession of another or in
the course of being reduced into another’s possession.
Property:
• Body parts
• Sharpe (1857) Kelly (1999), Welsh (1974 )
*what about mummies? can be stolen. if the corpse has been transformed into something else, it
takes upon attributes of property.
Doodeward v Spence - chief justice griffith
• Parts of a corpse are capable of being property within section 4 of the Theft Act, if they have
acquired different attributes by virtue of the application of skill, such as dissection or preservation
techniques, for exhibition or teaching purposes.
• Information
• Oxford v Moss (1978)
• Identifying the Property
• Cheques
• Chan Man Sin v A-G for Kong Kong (1988)
• Leaving without paying
B. Appropriation: "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 owner." (s.3 (1))
No need for a taking. Pitham and Hehl (1976) 65 CrApp R 45
What are the rights of ownership ?
• Possess, sell, use, destroy, pawn, lend, modify
• Morris (1984)
• In what ways can rights be assumed?
• Chan Man Sin v A-G for Kong Kong (1988)
