Theft

• Theft is a statutory offence, defined in section 1 of the Theft Act 1968 a person commits theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving them of it.
• Dishonesty

  • Is part of the mens rea of theft and requires a two-part test in order for it to be established
  • The test has both objective and subjective elements and was laid down in R v Ghosh.
• R v Gosh


  Where a locum doctor charged a hospital for work he hadn’t done, in order to receive payment that he was already entitled to, for other work that he hadn’t been paid for yet.
• In R v Ghosh, it was decided by the court that dishonesty by the defendant is established if (a) the reasonable man would see the conduct as dishonest, and also (b) the defendant realised that it would be seen as dishonest by the standards of the reasonable man.
• Property -

  • Property can include tangible items such as money, cars etc
  • But also intangibles like intellectual property rights and shares in companies. A-G of Hong Kong v Chan Nai-Keung.
• Appropriation

  • To appropriate means to assume any rights of ownership over the property in question.
  • It does not mean that all rights of ownership are assumed.
  • Rights include Selling, Consuming, destroying, possessing, using, hiring etc. - Pitham and Hehl
• Pitham and Hehl

  the defendant had sold furniture belonging to someone else without their permission. It didn’t matter that the furniture hadn’t been removed yet, as the offer to sell was solely the right of the owner, so an appropriation had taken place. Even switching labels on items in a shop can be seen as appropriation.
• Corcoran v Anderton (a robbery case) shows that the tugging of a handbag can amount to an appropriation.
• Appropriation can even take place when consent is given. - Lawrence
• Lawrence


  When a taxi driver took more money than he needed when a foreign student offered her open purse to pay for the fare.
• In Gomez, the appropriation took place when the manager consented to a colleague taking goods from a shop in return for payment by cheque. The cheques were stolen, however, and therefore had no value.
• The house of lords ruled that appropriation can take place even with the consent of the owner.
• • Assumption of a right can occur when the defendant, for example, borrows something, but then later decides not to return it.
  • The appropriation in this case occurs at the points where the defendant decides to keep the item.
• Belonging to another

  • Typically means in someone else’s possession or control.
  • However, they may transfer that possession or control to another party in some situations. - Turner
• Turner


  Who stole back his car from the repair garage, before paying for the work done. The car was temporarily under the possession and control of the garage, so he could be found guilty of the theft of his own car! 
• The Theft Act 1968 also states that that where a person receives property by mistake and is under an obligation to return the property a failure to restore the property will also amount to theft.
• In order to be found guilty of Theft, the defendant must intend to permanently deprive the other of the property that was stolen.
• • If someone steals money, intending to replace that money later on, they can be still be found guilty. This is because the bank notes or coins they replace the originals with are not the same ones.
  • The victim has still been permanently deprived of the original physical banknotes and coins.