CRIMINAL LAW LECTURES 37-40: PROPERTY OFFENCES Dr Jonathan Rogers We finish the course with a survey of the most important "mainstream" property- related offences, namely theft, robbery, burglary, fraud and criminal damage. In doing so, we will return to the notion of consent, or more accurately belief in consent; and we will discuss for the first time the important element of dishonesty. It should be said that there are several more property offences in existence, e.g., handling stolen goods, and you can find many of them by perusing Theft Act 1968 and Theft Act 1978. You do not need to know any details about any of these "other" offences, but we may note their existence from time to time. For example, when learning that a joyrider, who takes his neighbour's car for a spin but intending to leave it nearby or even to return it, is not guilty of theft you might be relieved to know that another offence (taking a vehicle without consent) is instead committed. Then there is a whole host of other economic crime; tax evasion, bribery, conspiracy to defraud, fraudulent trading, etc. We do not have space to consider these offences, though many who aspire to practice criminal law and to do very well from it will likely "choose" to acquire some expertise in them at some point. Inevitably, we start by considering theft, because the offence of robbery is an aggravated form of theft, and in some of its manifestations, so is burglary. Moreover, only when the scope of theft is understood can we see the gaps that may be filled by the fraud offences. It might be noted that property offences frequently overlap. This can cause problems in so far as prosecutors may become complacent, and then pick the wrong charge when there is in fact no choice (eg see Darroux, p.2). But the real concern is the possibility that some dishonest conduct may not come under particular offence at all (some would say that this is what is really going on in Hinks, p.3). 1 THEFT Theft Act 1968 1 .- Basic definition of theft (1) A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it; and 'thief' and 'steal' shall be construed accordingly. (3) The five following sections of this Act shall have effect as regards the interpretation and operation of this section (and, except as otherwise provided by this Act, shall apply only for purposes of this section). 1
So the interpretation of the basic offence in section 1 depends on a close reading of the following sections 2-6 Theft Act 1968, which make further provisions relating to those elements "dishonestly", "appropriates", "property", "belonging to another" and "intention of permanently depriving the other". It cannot be emphasised strongly enough that understanding theft may require you to do away altogether with "common sense assumptions": instead you must read the offence subject to the text in sections 2-6 Theft