Theft

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What is the definition of theft?
To dishonestly appropriate property belonging to snother with the intention to permanently deprive.
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Where is theft defined?
Theft is defined in S1 of the Theft Act 1968
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What is the AR of theft?
Appropriation (S.3), Property (S.4), Belonging to another (S.5)
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What is the MR of theft?
Dishonesty (S.2), With the intention to permanently deprive (S.6)
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What is Appropriation?
Stated in S.3 (1) of the Theft Act 'any assumption of the rights of an owner'
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What are the rights of the owner?
The rights of an owner include selling the property or destroying it as well as possessing it, consuming it, using it, lending it, or hiring it out.
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What must happen for there to be an appropriation?
The thief must do something which assumes one of the owner's rights .
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R v Pitham & Hehl
D offered to sell furniture in a house belonging to a friend who was in prison. The offer to sell was an assumption of rights of the owner and the appropriation took place at that point.
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R v Morris
D switched labels in a supermarket and was caught trying to pay the lower price for the items. Conviction upheld as it is the owner's right to put a price lable on the goods was a right that had been assumed.
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Can you consent to appropriation?
the Theft Act does not state that the appropriation has to be without the consent of the owner.
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Lawrence v Commissioner for Metropolitan Police
An Italian student, who spoke very little english, allowed a taxi driver to take money out of his wallet after D told him £1 wasn't enough. An appropriation "may occur even though the owner has permitted or consented to the property being taken."
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R v Gomez
D had convinced the manager, of a shop, to accept a cheque for goods. D knew the cheque to be stolen. Even though he had the manager's consent, therefore consent is irrelevant. This overruled consent in Morris..
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Consent without deception
In Gomez there was deception used to appropriate the goods but in the case of Hinks there was no deception.
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R v Hinks
D, a care giver of a 53-year-old man with learning difficulties, had persuaded him to make gifts to her totalling £60,000. Guilty, she had taken advantage of him and confirms that consent of the V does not matter.
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Appropriation at one point in time
The decision in Gomez is that the appropriation is viewed as occuring at one point in time.
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R v Atakpu & Abrahams
D hired 3 expensive cars abroad to sell in England. Not guilty, where a thief came by property by stealing it, his later dealings could not be another appropriation. How long the appropriation continues for is a matter for a jury.
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A later assumption of rights
S.3 (1) makes it clear that there can also be an appropriation where D acquires property without stealing it, but later decides to keep or deal with the property as owner. The appropriation takes place at the point of 'dealing' or 'keeping'
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What is property?
S.4 gives a very comprehensive definition of property which means that almost anything can be stolen.
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What are the five types of items which are included in the definition of 'property'?
money, real property, personal property, things in action, other intangible property.
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What is money?
Money is self-explanatory, it means coins and banknotes of any currency.
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What is personal property?
inclueds all moveable items such as books, jewellery, clothes and cars, as well as trivial items such as a sheet of paper.
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R v Kelly & Lindsay
D stole body parts from the Royal College of Surgeons where they worked. As the body parts had acquired 'different attributes by virtue of the application of skill, such as dissection or prevention techniques, for exhibition or teaching purposes"
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What is 'real property'?
Real property is the legal term for land and buildings. Under S.4 (1) land can be stolen, but S.4(2) states that this can only be done in three circumstances.
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What are the three circumstances?
1) a trustee or personal representative take land in breach of duties 2) someone not in possession of the land servers anything forming part of the land from the land. 3) a tenant takes a fixture or structure from the land let to him.
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What is 'things in action'?
A right which can be enforced against another person by an action in law
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An example of 'things in action'
Under S.4 an example of property that is 'things in action' is a bank account.
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What is 'intangible property'?
Other rights which have no physical presence but can be stolen under the Theft Act.
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Attorney-General for Hong Kong v Chan Nai-Keung
D sold export quotas to another textiles company at a very reduced rate. Export quotas, although not "things in action" were a form of "other intangible property" because they can be freely bought and sold.
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Oxford v Moss
D obtained a copy of an exam paper, read it and then replaced it. He had no intention to permanently deprive. Also, information does not constitute property.
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What are things which can not be stolen?
Set out in S.4(3) and S.4(4) of the Theft Act, plants and fungi growing wild, unless sone for resale or payment, and wild animals.
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What is 'belonging to another'?
Under S.5 (1), property is regarded as belonging to any person having possession or control or any propietary right.
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Possession or control
The owner of property normally has possession and control of it, but there are many other situations in which a person can have either possession or control of property.
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R v Turner (No. 2)
D’s car was being repaired. Once it was done, he took the car without paying for the repairs. Did the garage have possession or control of the car, at the time of appropriation? Yes, they did.
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R v Woodman
D took scrap metal from a disused factory site. The occupiers had put up a barbed wire fence to keep out trespassers, were not aware of the scrap metal. A person has possession of any property on his land even if he is not aware the property exists.R
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R v Basildon Magistrates Court
D took bags from outside a charity shop with the intention to sell the contents of the bags. Items left directly outside the shop is the property of the charity shop, items in the vicinity were not. Possession has to be direct not in the vicinity.
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What is propietary interest?
The defendant owns property and is in possession and control of property, they can still be guilty of stealing it if another person has a propietary interest it.
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R v Webster
D received a medal from the ministry of defence and they accidently sent him two in the post. D sold one of them on eBay. Property can carry an obligation to deal with it in a particular way.
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Property received under an obligation
S5(3) of the Theft Act, there must be an obligation to retain and deal with the property in a particular way.
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R v Hall
D, a travel agent, was paid to book flights to America by clients. The flights were not booked and the money was not refunded. There was an obligation if V wants the property to be dealt with in a specific way.
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R v Klineberg and Marsden
D committed timeshare fraud by receiving money without giving out any timeshares. Property belongs to one another when it is housed to D to deal with it in a particular way, and when he does not, it is Theft.
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Davige v Bunnett
D received cheques from her flatmates to pay bills, D spent the money on Christmas presents and didn’t pay the bills. Cheques have an obligation to apply the money due for payment of bills.
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Property received by mistake
S.5(4) also provides for situations where property has been handed over to D by another's mistake and so has become D's property.
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Attorney-General's Reference (No 1 of 1983)
An overpayment was made by D's employers into her bank account. Convicted of theft of the property as she was under an obligation to return it.
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R v Gilks
D was overpaid during winnings but kept the money. Betting transactions are not enforcable by law.
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What is meant by 'dishonestly'?
There is no definition of what is meant by this in the Act but S.1 (2) states that 'it is immaterial whether the appropriation is made with a view to gain, or is made for the thief's own benefit'.
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Behaviour which is not dishonest
S.2(1) provides that a person's appropriation of property belonging to another is not to be regarded as dishonest if s/he appropriates the property in the belief that is defined in S.2(1)
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What is in S2(1)(a)?
s/he has in law the right to deprive the other of it, on behalf on him/herself or of a third person.
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What is in S2(1)(b)?
s/he would have the other's consent if the other knew of the appropriation and the circumstances of it
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What is in S2(1)(c)?
The person whom the property belongs cannot be discovered by taking reasonable steps
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Unreasonable belief
Held in R v Small that the fact that the belief was an reasonable one does not prevent D from relying on these sections. If the jury decides that D did not have a genuine belief, even though an unreasonable, in one 3 situations, then D is not guilty.
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R v Small
took a car which he believed had been abandoned. conviction for theft was quashed as he believed the owner could not be found.
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Willing to pay
S.2(2) states that 'a person's appropriation of property belonging to another may be dishonest notwithstanding that he is willing to pay for the property'
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What is the Ghosh?
The leading case on 'dishonesty' and set out the test to be used.
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What is the test?
1) was what was done dishonest according to the ordinary standards of a reasonable and honest people? 2) did D realise that what he was doing was dishonest by those standards?
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Ivey v Genting Casinos
D used a special technique in order to win £7.7 million at a casino. The Ghosh test is no longer applicable, the test should simply be an objective one.
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What is meant by 'intention to permanently deprive'?
The final element which has to be proved for theft is that D had the intention to permanently deprive as stated in S6 of the Theft Act.
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R v Velumyl
D was a company director who took money from the company’s safe saying he would return it after the weekend. Intention to permanently deprive of the original notes is enough for ITPD.
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DPP v Lavender
D removed doors from a council property that was to be destroyed and installed the doors on his girlfriend’s house. As long as D treated the object as his own there is no ITPD.
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Borrowing or lending
Borrowing and lending is something which causes difficulty with S.6. In S.6 it states that borrowing is not theft unless it is paid for a period and circumstances making it equivalent to an outright taking or disposal.
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R v Lloyd
D took films from a cinema and used it for a while, and then gave it back to the cinema. Borrowing and lending can amount to Theft.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Where is theft defined?

Back

Theft is defined in S1 of the Theft Act 1968

Card 3

Front

What is the AR of theft?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What is the MR of theft?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What is Appropriation?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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