Theft Act 1968

The Theft Act 1968
c 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 deception.

History

The Theft Act 1968 resulted from the efforts of the Criminal Law Revision Committee to reform the English law of theft. The Larceny Act 1916 had codified the common law, including larceny itself, but it remained a complex web of offences. The intention of the Theft Act 1968, was to replace the existing law of larceny and other deception-related offences, by a single enactment, creating a more coherent body of principles that would allow the law to evolve to meet new situations.

Provisions

A number of greatly simplifiedor at least less complicatedoffences were created.

Section 1 – Basic definition of "theft"

This section creates the offence of theft. This definition is supplemented by sections 2 to 6. The definition of theft under the Theft Act 1968 is:

Section 2 – "Dishonestly"

This section provides a partial definition of dishonesty for certain purposes.

Section 3 – "Appropriation"

Appropriation is defined as "Any assumption by a person of the rights of an owner".

The courts have interpreted the assumption "of the rights of an owner" to mean that a person assumes at least one of a set of rights rather than having to assume ''all'' of the rights of the owners. This interpretation of the legislation was originally given in the case of '' R v Morris; Anderton v Burnside'' 984UKHL 1, and it has been endorsed by the decision in '' R v Gomez'' 993AC 442.

Section 4 – "Property"

The definition of property is:

Section 5 – "Belonging to another"

The definition of belonging to another is

It is possible to have a proprietary right or interest over property that in the ordinary sense belongs to someone else. In the case of ''R v Turner (No. 2)'' 9711 WLR 901, the Court of Appeal found that a man had committed theft by driving away his car without having paid for repairs made on the car. The garage that repaired his car had a proprietary right over it.

One can have a controlling interest in a piece of property even after selling it. In ''R v Marshall'' 9982 Cr App R 282, a group of defendants resold used tickets for the London Underground. The Court of Appeal dismissed their appeal in part because the tickets said they were the property of London Underground, a condition of sale agreed to by the original buyer of the ticket.

Section 5 includes subsections that deal with possession that has conditions. Section 5(3) deals with situations where a person has given property to another for a particular purpose: the person receiving the property is said to be engaging in theft if they use the property for some purpose it was not intended. If A gives B money to purchase a particular good for A and B buys something else with it without A's consent, even though the property is not in A's hands, A still has a controlling interest in it under Section 5(3).

If one is placed under a duty to use property in a particular way, that obligation must be legal under civil law according to the Court of Appeal in ''R v Breaks and Huggan'' (1998).

There are limits to the legal obligations one is liable for under Section 5(3). In ''R v. Hall'' (1972), a customer paid a deposit to a travel agent. The deposit was paid into the company's bank account but the travel agent went out of business. This was not an instance of theft as the money was legitimately paid as a deposit against cancellation and there was no specific obligation to spend the money in a particular way.

Section 5(4) requires that if property is received by mistake it must be returned and failure to do so counts as appropriation. This was seen in action in ''Attorney-General's Reference (No. 1 of 1983)'' where a police officer was given £74 extra in her wages but failed to return it or alert her superiors to it. The Court of Appeal held it to be theft.

Section 6 – "Intention to permanently deprive"

This section provides that a person in order to be guilty of theft had the intention of permanently depriving the other of the property. In certain cases, the intention to deprive may be construed, even when the person may not have meant to deprive another of their property permanently, for example if the intention is to treat another's property as one's own to dispose of regardless of the other's rights.

Section 7 – Theft

This section provides that a person convicted of theft on indictment is liable to imprisonment to a term not exceeding seven years.

Section 8 – Robbery

Section 8(1) creates the offence of robbery. Section 8(2) provides that a person convicted on indictment of robbery or assault with intent to rob is liable to imprisonment for life. Common assault itself is defined at common law.

Section 9 – Burglary

This section codifies the offence of burglary and provides for penalties for that offence on conviction on indictment. The offence consists of entering a building (including an "inhabited vehicle or vessel", such as a caravan or ship, and regardless of whether any inhabitant is there at the time) as a trespasser, either with intent to commit (section 9(1)(a)), or actually committing or attempting to commit (section 9(1)(b)), an offence of theft, grievous bodily harm, or criminal damage. "Theft" for this purpose includes taking a conveyance without consent contrary to section 12(1). The maximum sentence is ten years' imprisonment, or fourteen years if the building is a dwelling.

The entry may be by entry of the full body, entry of part of the body or entry by an instrument.

Originally, rape was one of the offences that could lead to a charge of burglary. This very narrow definition was replaced with the more general offence of trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence by section 63 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Trespass is usually a civil matter in English law.

Section 10 – Aggravated burglary

Section 10(1) creates the offence of aggravated burglary, which involves the use of weapons or explosives. Section 10(2) provides that a person guilty of that offence is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life.

Section 11 – Removal of articles from places open to the public

This section creates the offence of removing article from place open to the public and provides that a person guilty of that offence is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.

Section 12 – Taking motor vehicle or other conveyance without authority

Section 12(1) creates an offence of taking a conveyance without authority (referred to in police jargon as "taking without consent" or TWOC), which falls short of theft in that there is no intent to permanently deprive the owner of possession. "Conveyance" includes a land, water or air vehicle, but not an unmanned or remote-controlled vehicle, nor a pedal cycle. It is a summary offence with a maximum sentence of a level 5 fine on the standard scale or six months' imprisonment, or both.

Section 12(4) allows a jury to return a verdict of TWOC on an indictment for theft of a vehicle.

Section 12(5) creates a separate offence of taking a pedal cycle.

Section 12A – Aggravated vehicle-taking

This section, which was added by the Aggravated Vehicle-Taking Act 1992, creates an offence of aggravated vehicle taking, which involves either dangerous driving or causing injury or damage. It can only be committed in respect of a motor vehicle. It is an indictable offence carrying a maximum sentence of two years, or fourteen if it causes a person's death.

Section 13 – Abstracting of electricity

This section creates the offence of abstracting electricity. It replaces section 10 of the Larceny Act 1916. It is an indictable offence with a maximum sentence of five years.

Section 14 – Thefts from mails outside England and Wales

This section provides that theft of or from mail bags being transported between jurisdictions in Britain (including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands), and robbery etc. during such a theft, can be prosecuted as though it was committed in England and Wales, even if the offence was committed elsewhere. This removes the burden on the prosecution to prove, for example, exactly where a train was when a theft took place on it.

Section 15 – Obtaining property