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In England, Wales and Northern Ireland taking without owner's consent (TWOC), also referred to as unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle (UTMV) describes any unauthorised use of a car or other conveyance that does not constitute theft. A similar offence, known as taking and driving away, exists in Scotland. In police slang usage, ''twoc'' became a verb, with ''twocking'' and ''twockers'' (also spelled twoccing and twoccers) used respectively to describe car theft and those who perpetrate it: these usages subsequently filtered into general British slang.


England and Wales


Discussion

Any unauthorised taking of a car is likely to cause distress and can cause significant inconvenience to the owner and his or her family, so this is an offence covering an everyday crime, yet one that often involves genuine emotions of personal invasion. Nevertheless, it is a
summary offence A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). Canada In Canada, summary offenc ...
defined under section 12(1) of the
Theft Act 1968 The Theft Act 1968c 60 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of offences against property in England and Wales. On 15 January 2007 the Fraud Act 2006 came into force, redefining most of the offences of deceptio ...
: Adopting the standard section 1 definition of theft would require a dishonest appropriation of the conveyance with the intention of permanently depriving the owner. There will therefore be little difficulty in prosecuting as theft situations where the stolen car is later sold (sometimes through a process of 'ringing' i.e. its identity is changed and
forged Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it ...
documents of title produced) or broken for spare parts, because the evidence of an intent permanently to deprive is clear. But the twoccing situation usually describes
joyriding Joyriding refers to driving or riding in a stolen vehicle, most commonly a car, with no particular goal other than the pleasure or thrill of doing so or to impress other people. The term "Joy Riding" was coined by a New York judge in 1908. Joy ...
where all that is intended is an unauthorised use for a short period of time. Alternatively, it covers situations where a vehicle is taken for the purposes of another offence, e.g. it is to be used to escape after a bank robbery and then abandoned. This offence is an
alternative verdict In criminal law, a lesser included offense is a crime for which all of the elements necessary to impose liability are also elements found in a more serious crime. It is also used in non-criminal violations of law, such as certain classes of tr ...
under section 12(4) which provides:


Elements of the offence


Taking

There must be some positive movement of the vehicle. Simply rolling it forwards or backwards a few metres is not sufficient (if someone parks their car so close to yours that they make it impossible to drive your vehicle, it is permissible to move their vehicle a few feet to extricate yours) but, equally, it is not necessary that the engine be started. Releasing the brake and allowing the vehicle to run down a hill would be sufficient, as would driving the vehicle for a short distance. The taking may also be a material unauthorised use. For example, if a person hires a car to drive from London to Birmingham, but actually drives it to Liverpool, that will be a taking. The conveyance need not have anyone in it at the time of the taking; merely being a conveyance is sufficient.


A conveyance

To be a conveyance, the vehicle must have been constructed or adapted to carry a driver (and others, depending on the design) whether by land, water or air (so it includes a
hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...
). Pedal cycles are excluded from section 12(1), but are covered by section 12(5) with reduced penalties, except for one constructed or adapted only for use under the control of a person not carried in or on it.


Without the consent of the owner

If the vehicle is taken with the owner's knowledge, the owner has consented. But apparent consent can be ignored if obtained by a deception, e.g. giving a false identity when hiring a car. This overlaps with the section 15 offence of obtaining property or services by deception. Taking by force may be
robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
when the defendant did not intend the victim to recover the vehicle at all or so seriously damaged it that such conduct amounts to a theft (see section 6). If the evidence is insufficient for theft, the alternative charges are aggravated vehicle taking or blackmail under section 21. Note that section 12(7) protects the interests of people hiring or buying under a
hire purchase A hire purchase (HP), also known as an installment plan, is an arrangement whereby a customer agrees to a contract to acquire an asset by paying an initial installment (e.g., 40% of the total) and repaying the balance of the price of the asset pl ...
agreement by deeming them to be the owner for the purposes of section 12.


''Mens rea''

The defendant must know that the vehicle has been taken without the owner's consent, and that the accused has either driven the vehicle or been a passenger.


Statutory defence

This is a statutory version of the so-called ''claim of right'' defence which represents an exception to the general rule that ''
ignorantia juris non excusat In law, (Latin for "ignorance of the law excuses not"),''Black's Law Dictionary'', 5th Edition, pg. 672 or ("ignorance of law excuses no one"),''Black's Law Dictionary'', 5th Edition, pg. 673 is a legal principle holding that a person who is una ...
'', i.e. a limited
mistake of law Mistake of law is a legal principle referring to one or more errors that were made by a person in understanding how the applicable law applied to their past activity that is under analysis by a court. In jurisdictions that use the term, it is dif ...
defence. Thus, section 12(6) allows a defence where the defendant believes that he has the lawful authority to do it or that he would have the owner's consent if the owner knew of his doing it and the circumstances of it. So, for example, if a vehicle was moved a short distance because it was causing an obstruction, those moving it might reasonably believe that they have lawful authority to remove the obstruction.


Attempt

Because section 12 is a summary only offence, there can be no
attempt An attempt to commit a crime occurs if a criminal has an intent to commit a crime and takes a substantial step toward completing the crime, but for reasons not intended by the criminal, the final resulting crime does not occur.''Criminal Law - ...
, so anticipatory acts are an offence of vehicle interference contrary to section 9 of the
Criminal Attempts Act 1981 The Criminal Attempts Act 1981 (c 47) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It applies to England and Wales and creates criminal offences pertaining to attempting to commit crimes. It abolished the common law offence of attempt. P ...
. The defendant must interfere with the vehicle or a trailer or anything in or on it. Merely touching the vehicle would not be enough. There must be some positive effort made to enter or affect it, and an intention to take or steal it.


Aggravated vehicle taking

The offence of aggravated vehicle-taking was created by the
Aggravated Vehicle-Taking Act 1992 The Aggravated Vehicle-Taking Act 1992 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It amends the Theft Act 1968 by creating the specific offence of aggravated vehicle-taking, which combines the taking of a vehicle without the owner's c ...
, which amended the Theft Act 1968 to address the issue of
joyriding Joyriding refers to driving or riding in a stolen vehicle, most commonly a car, with no particular goal other than the pleasure or thrill of doing so or to impress other people. The term "Joy Riding" was coined by a New York judge in 1908. Joy ...
. It is committed if a person commits an offence under section 12(1) of the Theft Act 1968 in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle and it is proved that at any time after the vehicle was unlawfully taken (whether by that person or another) and before it was recovered, the vehicle was driven, or death, injury or damage was caused, in one or more the circumstances listed in section 12A(2): :(a) that the vehicle was driven dangerously on a road or other public place; :(b) that, owing to the driving of the vehicle, an accident occurred by which injury was caused to any person; :(c) that, owing to the driving of the vehicle, an accident occurred by which damage was caused to any property, other than the vehicle; :(d) that damage was caused to the vehicle. There are two offences: under section 12A(2)(b) where an accident results in the death of another (maximum 14-year sentence), and the less serious version under the other three headings (maximum two years sentence). In ''R v Marcus Leon Ashley Forbes'' (2005) EWCA Crim 2069, the defendant was seen to take a car and then engaged in a high-speed car chase with the police. The judge at first instance described the defendant as a menace, having driven in ways that could so easily have killed wholly innocent road users while disqualified, while released on licence having been convicted of other aggravated TWOC offences, and while "out of his head" on ecstasy. He had a long track record of convictions. The judge imposed the maximum consecutive sentences for aggravated taking and driving while disqualified. According to ''R v March'' (2002) 2 Cr App R (S) 448, credit should be given for a guilty plea and Forbes felt a keen sense of injustice that he had been given the maximum sentence. The
Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
confirmed the consecutive element of the sentence but felt that there was no overwhelming public policy justification for awarding the maximum sentence. Accordingly, a reduction was made to 22 months' detention in a young offender institution.


Northern Ireland

The offence of taking without consent exists in Northern Ireland under article 172 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.


Scotland

A similar offence known as taking and driving away exists in Scotland. It is an offence under section 178 of the
Road Traffic Act 1988 The Road Traffic Act 1988 (c. 52) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, concerning licensing of vehicles, insurance and road regulation. Contents Part I contains a number of traffic offences including causing death by dangerous drivi ...
to take and drive away a motor vehicle without the consent of the owner or, knowing the vehicle has been taken, to drive it or be carried in it. The offence is intended to be used where a motor vehicle is taken, driven away and later abandoned. Where the vehicle is abandoned in a place where it is unlikely to be found the common law offence of theft is the more appropriate charge. Where police trace the vehicle and it is still in the possession of the person who took the vehicle is would also be more appropriate to charge the person with theft.


See also

*
Carjacking Carjacking is a robbery in which the item taken over is a motor vehicle.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is ...
*
Motor vehicle theft Motor vehicle theft (also known as a car theft and, in the United States, grand theft auto) is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle. Nationwide in the United States in 2020, there were 810,400 vehicles reporte ...
*
Road crime unit A Road Crime Unit or Pro Active Unit is a police unit derived from traffic policing departments in the United Kingdom. Certain forces have established such units with a mandate to pro-actively target certain crime offences (robbery, burglary etc.) ...


References

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External links


Taken WithOut Consent? UK FREE database of stolen vehicles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twoc Crimes Motor vehicle theft