Theft, Fraud, and Making Off Without Payment
Theft:
s.1(1) of Theft Act 1968: A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with
the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.
Actus Reus: appropriates property belong to another
Appropriation: s.3(1) TA 1968: assuming any rights over property, or coming into property innocently and then assuming
right of ownerships over it - i.e. assumption of the rights of an owner
• Rights of an owner = use, sell, lend, exchange, destroy property
• Having authorisation of the owner is irrelevant (Gomez)
• This includes gifts (Hinks)
• Virtually anything you do with someone else’s property = appropriation
• Limitations:
◦ Cannot be a remote action e.g. transferring money into an account (Briggs)
◦ Not possible to steal something twice, given it had been in continuous possession, appropriation only happens
once (Atakpu - stealing cars - importance of determining instantaneous or continuing theft - question for the jury)
◦ An innocent purchaser for value of a stolen property does not appropriate it - although if given it, e.g. as a gift,
can be appropriation because ^ only applies to purchasers (s.3(2) TA 1968)
Property: s.4(1) TA 1968: all money and other property, real or personal, including things in action and intangible property
• Real property = land or things attached to it
• Personal property = any tangible aspect that is not real property e.g. cars, books, TV
◦ Can include illegal property (Smith - heroin)
◦ Can include body parts (Kelly and Lindsay - stole body parts from Royal College of Surgeons)
• Things in action = copyrights and debts; 2 main types:
◦ The credit balance of another’s account (Chan Man-Sin - forged company cheques and took money out of account)
◦ Another person’s overdraft facility (Narrabi - over drafted on her own account and was not counted as theft)
• Intangible objects - e.g. application for patent (s.30 Patents Act defines patents as not things in action)
• Limitations:
◦ You cannot steal land unless (s.4(2) TA 1968)
‣ Land held under a trust
‣ Severing part of the land (e.g. cutting trees)
‣ Tenants taking fixtures (e.g. tenant leaves and takes fixed in wardrobe from house)
◦ Wild plants and flowers only included if grown for commercial use (s.4(3) TS 1968)
◦ Wild creatures only included if they are the property of someone (e.g. pet) (s.4(4) TA 1968)
◦ Some things by nature cannot be stolen: electricity (Low v Blease) and information e.g. on an exam paper
(Oxford v Moss)
Belonging to another: s.5(1) TA 1968: belongs to another if they have a property right or interest in it.
• Includes: companies, legal and equitable interest, and joint ownerships
• It is possible to steal your own property when another person has a right to it (Turner - taking car back from garage
without paying for the repairs)
• Property must belong to someone at the time of appropriation - when not the case = look into making off without
payment
• When there is a legal obligation to deal with property in a certain way then the property still belongs to the person
giving instructions and can be stolen - as long as it is clear in regulations (s.5(3) TA 1968) (Huskinson - given housing
benefit and spent some of the money on himself, was not theft because no regulation specifically said money should be
spent on housing) - distinction:
◦ Where D has an obligation to use property or proceeds in a particular way = can lead to theft (Wain - Charity
money)
◦ Where D has a mere contractual obligation to property, not to specific property = not theft (Hall - travel agency)
• Abandoned property does not belong to anyone, so long as owner intended to abandon it (not the same as giving up
looking for it
◦ Waste left outside for council to collect was not abandoned because was left with an intention to be collected
(Williams v Phillips)
◦ Donations outside charity shops were not abandoned (Rickets)
Theft:
s.1(1) of Theft Act 1968: A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with
the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.
Actus Reus: appropriates property belong to another
Appropriation: s.3(1) TA 1968: assuming any rights over property, or coming into property innocently and then assuming
right of ownerships over it - i.e. assumption of the rights of an owner
• Rights of an owner = use, sell, lend, exchange, destroy property
• Having authorisation of the owner is irrelevant (Gomez)
• This includes gifts (Hinks)
• Virtually anything you do with someone else’s property = appropriation
• Limitations:
◦ Cannot be a remote action e.g. transferring money into an account (Briggs)
◦ Not possible to steal something twice, given it had been in continuous possession, appropriation only happens
once (Atakpu - stealing cars - importance of determining instantaneous or continuing theft - question for the jury)
◦ An innocent purchaser for value of a stolen property does not appropriate it - although if given it, e.g. as a gift,
can be appropriation because ^ only applies to purchasers (s.3(2) TA 1968)
Property: s.4(1) TA 1968: all money and other property, real or personal, including things in action and intangible property
• Real property = land or things attached to it
• Personal property = any tangible aspect that is not real property e.g. cars, books, TV
◦ Can include illegal property (Smith - heroin)
◦ Can include body parts (Kelly and Lindsay - stole body parts from Royal College of Surgeons)
• Things in action = copyrights and debts; 2 main types:
◦ The credit balance of another’s account (Chan Man-Sin - forged company cheques and took money out of account)
◦ Another person’s overdraft facility (Narrabi - over drafted on her own account and was not counted as theft)
• Intangible objects - e.g. application for patent (s.30 Patents Act defines patents as not things in action)
• Limitations:
◦ You cannot steal land unless (s.4(2) TA 1968)
‣ Land held under a trust
‣ Severing part of the land (e.g. cutting trees)
‣ Tenants taking fixtures (e.g. tenant leaves and takes fixed in wardrobe from house)
◦ Wild plants and flowers only included if grown for commercial use (s.4(3) TS 1968)
◦ Wild creatures only included if they are the property of someone (e.g. pet) (s.4(4) TA 1968)
◦ Some things by nature cannot be stolen: electricity (Low v Blease) and information e.g. on an exam paper
(Oxford v Moss)
Belonging to another: s.5(1) TA 1968: belongs to another if they have a property right or interest in it.
• Includes: companies, legal and equitable interest, and joint ownerships
• It is possible to steal your own property when another person has a right to it (Turner - taking car back from garage
without paying for the repairs)
• Property must belong to someone at the time of appropriation - when not the case = look into making off without
payment
• When there is a legal obligation to deal with property in a certain way then the property still belongs to the person
giving instructions and can be stolen - as long as it is clear in regulations (s.5(3) TA 1968) (Huskinson - given housing
benefit and spent some of the money on himself, was not theft because no regulation specifically said money should be
spent on housing) - distinction:
◦ Where D has an obligation to use property or proceeds in a particular way = can lead to theft (Wain - Charity
money)
◦ Where D has a mere contractual obligation to property, not to specific property = not theft (Hall - travel agency)
• Abandoned property does not belong to anyone, so long as owner intended to abandon it (not the same as giving up
looking for it
◦ Waste left outside for council to collect was not abandoned because was left with an intention to be collected
(Williams v Phillips)
◦ Donations outside charity shops were not abandoned (Rickets)
