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Blackmail - Coggle Diagram
Blackmail
Criticism
No requirement to show that a demand has made expressly. If a demand is implied, this may be enough to proof blackmail, although such proof could be difficult
Demand via post has been made the moment it has been posted, this is consistent in the rules in contract law. The demand will have been made before the victim was even aware of it occurring, and it remains as a continuous demand until it has been withdrawn
No requirement to show that the one making the demand and the one carrying out the menaces is the same. Neither is a requirement to show that the person making the demand is in a position to undertake the threatened action.
Difficulty for defendant to prove they believed the two factors required for the defence of reasonable grounds. Whether they are actually entitled to the money or property demanded is irrelevant.
S34 of Theft Act 1968: 'gain' and 'loss' only includes money or other property. It means things of economic value, therefore intangible things are not covered.
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Blurs the lines between blackmail and negotiations due to the definition of menaces being highly subjective, R v Clear and R v Garwood, displayed in R v Larkin/R v F
Can include Thorne v Motor Trade Association, that a menace must include more than the threat to enforce a legal right
Interference with private disputes. In R v Lawrence and Pomroy, quality of goods and services by law does not allow one to avoid payment for services done
Actus Reus
Unwarranted Demand
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R v Lambert
Although D's demand did not include any threats against the victim, it still imposed pressure on the victim, it also does not matter whether the defendant had the ability to carry out the threats.
R v Harvey
The victim threatened D for not holding up to the other end of the bargain. The defence was the demand was not unwarranted, but it was not lawful, therefore still an offence
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Definiton
S21 of the Theft Act 1968: A person is guilty of blackmail if with a view to gain for himself or another or with intent to cause loss to another, he makes any unwarranted demand with menaces, and for this purpose a demand with menaces is unwarranted unless the person making it does so in the belief-
(a) that he has reasonable grounds for making the demand; and,
(b) that the use of the menaces is a proper way of enforcing the demand.