The Law on Theft

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Defintion of Theft	Theft is defined in the Theft Act 1968 and states that a person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive them of it.
1) Appropriation	Defined as - any assumption by a person of the rights of the owner amounts to appropriation. This includes where D has come by the property innocently and ,later assumes these rights.
Cases for appropriation	Morris - D dishonestly switched the labels on goods in a supermarket and put them in his trolley. Lawrence - a foreign student offered D his wallet to pay for his taxi fare and D took more than the fare had cost. Gomez - D's accomplice paid for electrical goods with fake cheques and D knew they were fake and lied to his manager that they were real. Hinks - a single mother took advantage of a man of low intelligence so he gave her money. Consent is irrelevant.
2) Property	Defined as - Property which includes money and all other property, real or personal, including things in action and other intangible property.
Property - Land A person cannot steal land unless in certain cirumstances...	a) If D is a trustee/has authorised power of the land and breaches trust b) where D appropriates something forming part of the land c) where D is a tenant and appropriates any part of any fixture
Flowers, fruit & foliage/ Wild creatures	1) A person who picks any of these items from land is not guilty of theft unless they do so for reward or sale 2) Wild creatures cannot be stolen unless they have been reduced into possession or are in the process of bein reduced into possession.
Cases for property	Oxford v Moss - D stole and exam paper, with the intention to return it after having used the answers to cheat. Held, documents cannot be stolen. R v Marshall - The Ds used unexpired train tickets from others to sell. Held, this was theft as the tickets belonged to London Underground. R v Kelly - D stole body parts from the Royal College of London. Held, body parts cannot be stolen unless they have had something added to them (preservation)
3) Belonging to another	Defined as - Property belonging to any person having possession or control of it or having a propietary right over it.
Cases for belonging to another	R v Turner - D sent his car for repairs, but took his car back without paying, during the repairs. Held, theft of his own car as the garage had possession and control of it. R v Woodman - D took scrap metal from a yard. The owners of the yard were not aware that the metal was there. Held, theft as anything on the property belongs to owner.
s5(3) of belonging to another	Where D receives property and is under an obligation to treat the property in a particular way, the property will be considered as belonging to another.
Cases for s5(3)	Davidge & Bunnett - D was given money by her flat mates to pay for the gas bill, but instead spent it on christmas presents. Held, she was under obligation to use it in a particular way - theft. R v Wain - D collected money for a charity and (with permission) but the money into his account, but spent it on himself. Held, theft - as he had an obligation.
6) Intention to permanently deprive (MR)	Defined as - treating the property as ones own to dispose of regardless of the others rights. (D does not need to gain)
Cases for Intention to permanently deprive	R v Marshall - facts seen before - had an intention to permanently deprive London Underground of the money for the tickets. Lavender - D switched two doors over, in order to replace his broken one with a working one. Held, he treated it as his own to dispose of regardless of the council's rights.
Intention to permanently deprive - borrowing or lending	If D borrows property, it will count as theft if the borrowing is equivalent to an outright disposal in the cirumstances.
Cases for borrowing or lending	Lloyd - D borrowed film rolls from his work place to make copies of at home. Held, not theft as the value remained. Velumyl - D borrowed £1050 from work with the intention to return it on the monday. Held, theft as he did not return the exact notes.
s6(2) - pawning	If someone parts with the property which they are borrowing, without knowing if they will be able to get it back, they will have an intention to permanently deprive.
2) Dishonesty	A persons appropriation of property belonging to another will not be dishonest if: a) D believes they have a legal right to appropriate it b) If D believes he would have the others consent to do so c) if D believes, by taking reasonable steps, that he cannot find the owner
Cases for dishonesty	R v Small - D saw an abandoned car with its keys in the ignition so decided to take it as he believed he had a legal right. Held, not guilty.
Dishonesty - Ghosh test	1) Would D's behaviour be regarded as dishonest by the standards of a reasonable & honest person? 2) Was D aware that he would be dishonest by these standards?

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