Appropriation is the act of taking something and any assumption of the rights of an owner will amount to an appropriation. Rights of an owner must be established before deciding whether any of them have been taken. They include: selling, destroying, possessing, consuming, using, lending, and hiring out property.
Consent to appropriation – The Theft Act 1968 doesn’t state that the appropriation has to be without the consent of the owner, even though the previous law did, but this has been shown in the case of Lawrence v Commissioner for Metropolitan Police. In R v Morris it decided that shops operating a self-service style of shopping have implied consent and the system relies on the idea of an honest shopper.
R v Gomez 1993 - Decided that any removal of goods from a shelf in a shop is an appropriation, but this is obviously only one of the elements of theft. Consent without deception – The problem of gifts raised in the case of R v Hinks 2000
A later assumption of a right – there can also be an appropriation where the defendant acquires property without stealing it but later decides to keep or deal with the property as its owner.
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