Making off without payment is a statutory offence in

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and

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. It was first introduced on the recommendation of the Criminal Law Revision Committee and is intended to protect legitimate business concerns and applies where goods are supplied or a service is performed on the basis that payment will be made there and then. A taxi passenger who runs off without paying the fare at the end of the journey; and a motorist who fills up with petrol at a garage and drives off when the attendant is distracted. For these purposes, it must be proved that the defendant knew that payment on the spot was required or expected, and made off dishonestly with intent to avoid payment of the amount due. Prior to the creation of the offence, running off might be a

tort A tort is a civil wrong that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with criminal wrongs that are punishable ...

but it was not a crime; the supplier would have to bring a civil law suit against the recipient. The use of

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

is intended to avoid this expense. To be a theft, the goods must belong to another when the appropriation occurs. A

Sale of Goods Act Sale of Goods Acts (with variations) regulate the sale of goods in several legal jurisdictions including Malaysia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the common law provinces of Canada. The Bill for an Act with this short title will have been kn ...

determines when the ownership of goods passes. If the goods are being ascertained as part of the contract,

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will pass when the goods are identified or measured. In a garage, it will occur when the fuel is measured as it passes through the pump into the car's tank. Similarly, if ownership passed before an

intention Intentions are mental states in which the agent commits themselves to a course of action. Having the plan to visit the zoo tomorrow is an example of an intention. The action plan is the ''content'' of the intention while the commitment is the ''a ...

to avoid payment was formed, no crime was committed. This became too common an event and so the law had to be clarified to enable convictions to be obtained despite civil law niceties.

England and Wales

In England and Wales, this offence is created by section 3 of the Theft Act 1978, which provides: :(1) Subject to subsection (3) below, a person who, knowing that payment on the spot for any goods supplied or service done is required or expected from him, dishonestly makes off without having paid as required or expected and with intent to avoid payment of the amount due shall be guilty of an offence. :(2) For purposes of this section 'payment on the spot' includes payment at the time of collecting goods on which work has been done, or in respect of which service has been provided. :(3) Subsection (1) above shall not apply where the supply of the goods or the doing of the service is contrary to law, or where the service done is such that payment is not legally enforceable. In R v Allen, the House of Lords said that, in order for the offence to be committed, there must be "an intention to permanently deprive" by making off, and that a mere "intention to defer" payment is not sufficient. In theory, a person could eat a meal at a restaurant, not pay, but leave his name and address in order for the restaurant to start civil recovery procedures against him - as long as the details were correct, and he did intend to pay at some point in the future (by way of civil recovery) then no offence under Section 3 would be committed.

Northern Ireland

This offence is created b
article 5
of the Theft (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 (S.I. 1978/1407 (N.I. 23)). Article 5(4) was repealed on 1 March 2007 by articles 1(2) and 15(4) and 41(2) of, and paragraph 17 of Schedule 1 to, and Schedule 2 to, the Police and Criminal Evidence (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/288 (N.I. 2)). Sentence A person guilty of this offence is liable on conviction on

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to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or, on

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, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding £1000, or to both.

Republic of Ireland

This offence is created by section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001, as recommended in 1992 by the

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Hong Kong

The offence of "making off without payment" (不付款而離去) is created by section 18C of th
Theft Ordinance (Cap. 210)
f. 1978 c. 31 s. 3 U.K. Sentence A person guilty of this offence is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for 3 years.

Sources

* Criminal Law Revision Committee (CLRC). 13th Report. ''Section 16 of the Theft Act 1968'' (Cmnd. 6733) (1977) *

References