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Theft - Coggle Diagram
Theft
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Property
Contained in s.4 TA, defined as 'money and all other property, whether real or personal, including things in action and other intangible property'
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'Personal'- all moveable property eg. phones, TV's, dead body parts etc. (Kelly and Lindsay)
'Real'- legal term for land and things attached to land. Wild animals cannot be stolen unless they have first been 'reduced to possession'. Wild plants cannot be stolen unless for commercial gain
'Things in action'- a right that can be enforced in law, mainly the right to an amount of money in a bank account.
'Intangible property'- property that has no physical presence but can still be stolen (AG for Hong Kong). Confidential information cannot be stolen (Oxford v Moss)
Belonging to another
Contained in s.5 TA, defined as 'property shall be regarded as belonging to any person or control of it, or having in it any proprietary right or interest.
Even if D owns the property it can belong to another if someone else has a legal interest in it (Turner No2). Someone can be in possession of property even f they do not know it's there (Woodman).
Only if the property id truly abandoned will it not belong to another person (Ricketts v Basildon Magistrates Court)
A 'proprietary interest' occurs when D owns the property but can still steal it if someone else has a proprietary right to that property (Webster)
Property received under obligation (earmarked)- as demonstrated in Hall. Ownership of property does not transfer to D if there is a clear obligation to deal with the property in a particular way (Davidge v Bunnett)
Property received by mistake- If D receives property by mistake they could be guilty if they have an 'obligation to make restoration' and don't do so (AG's Ref No1 of 1983)(1985)
Appropriation
Contained in s.3 TA, defined as 'any assumption of the rights of the owner'. There is no need to show D had any physical contact with the property (Pitman and Hehl).
D does not need to assume all the rights of the owner. Assuming one right will be sufficient (Morris)
Appropriation alone is not theft, the offence is only committed when the MR for the offence is formed (Gomez)
D can still be guilty of theft even if the owner consents to the appropriation (Lawrence; Gomez). D can also be guilty when the property is a gift (Hinks)
Appropriation has a beginning and end, the jury decides this (Atakpu and Abrahams)
Dishonest
The act does not define 'dishonestly' however s.2(1)(a-c) gives 3 situations where D would not be dishonest providing they honestly believed that this was the case. It does not matter if it is an unreasonable belief, providing it is a genuine belief (Small; Holden)
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s.2(1)(b)- D believes that he would have the others consent if the other knew of the appropriation and the circumstances
s.2(1)(c)- D believes that the person whom the property belongs cannot be discovered by taking reasonable steps
If the jury are not satisfied that any of the statutory circumstances apply, the judge will advise them to consider the Ivey Test (Ivey v Genting Casino's ltd.). They must be satisfied D's conduct would be regarded as dishonest according to the ordinary standards of the reasonable and honest people- this is an objective test.
Defined in s.1 Theft Act 1968 as 'The dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive'