Criminal Law: Property Offences

What Criminal Law: Property Offences covers

Criminal Law: Property Offences is examined in A2 Units 3 and 4 — Criminal Law, one of three areas of which a student studies two. Unit 3 applies these rules to a scenario and Unit 4 evaluates them.. It covers theft: appropriation and property, theft: belonging to another, theft: dishonesty and intention permanently to deprive, robbery under section 8 of the Theft Act 1968, burglary: entry, trespass and buildings, burglary under sections 9(1)(a) and 9(1)(b), and aggravated burglary and evaluating the law on theft, robbery and burglary.

The 7 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Theft: appropriation and propertyRecall questions on the five elements, whether an owner's consent prevents appropriation, Gomez and Hinks, what counts as property, and when land or wild plants can be stolen.Open →
• Theft: belonging to anotherRecall questions on possession and control against ownership, stealing your own property, sections 5(3) and 5(4), Davidge v Bunnett and R v Hall, and a director taking company money.Open →
• Theft: dishonesty and intention permanently to depriveRecall questions on the three beliefs in section 2(1), the willingness to pay, the change made in 2017, borrowing and the film copies in R v Lloyd, and pawning.Open →
• Robbery under section 8 of the Theft Act 1968Maximum sentence for robbery and mens rea of robbery.Open →
• Burglary: entry, trespass and buildingsThree elements common to both forms of burglary and entry is required.Open →
• Burglary under sections 9(1)(a) and 9(1)(b), and aggravated burglaryKey difference in timing between the two forms of burglary, maximum sentence for burglary of a dwelling and maximum sentence for aggravated burglary.Open →
• Evaluating the law on theft, robbery and burglaryCriticism that appropriation has been stretched too far, criticism that dishonesty is left to the jury and criticism of the range of conduct covered by robbery.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Criminal Law: Property Offences further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Robbery vs Blackmail

  Robbery: requiring violence or the threat of violence there and then. Blackmail: an unwarranted demand backed by a menace that may be of something later.

• Burglary vs Aggravated burglary

  Burglary: entry as a trespasser with or followed by a listed offence. Aggravated burglary: a burglary committed while carrying a firearm, weapon or explosive.

• Appropriation vs Intention permanently to deprive

  Appropriation: the assumption of an owner's rights over the item. Intention permanently to deprive: the state of mind of treating that item as one's own to dispose of.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Give the statutory definition of theft.

   Model answer

   Section 1 of the Theft Act 1968 provides that a person is guilty of theft if they dishonestly appropriate property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.

2. 2

   Name the five elements of theft and the sections that deal with them.

   Model answer

   Dishonesty in section 2, appropriation in section 3, property in section 4, belonging to another in section 5, and intention permanently to deprive in section 6.

3. 3

   What is the maximum sentence for theft?

   Model answer

   Theft carries a maximum of seven years' imprisonment on conviction on indictment.

4. 4

   How does section 3 define appropriation?

   Model answer

   Appropriation is any assumption of the rights of an owner, including where the defendant came by the property innocently and later keeps or deals with it as owner.

5. 5

   Does appropriation require the defendant to assume all the owner's rights?

   Model answer

   No, R v Morris (1983) held that assuming any one of the owner's rights is enough, so switching price labels on goods is an appropriation.

6. 6

   Can there be an appropriation where the owner consents?

   Model answer

   Yes, Lawrence v Metropolitan Police Commissioner (1972) held that a taxi driver who took extra money from a tourist's open wallet appropriated it even though the passenger allowed him to.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Criminal Law: Property Offences revision questions

What does Criminal Law: Property Offences cover in WJEC A-Level Law?

7 subtopics: theft: appropriation and property, theft: belonging to another, theft: dishonesty and intention permanently to deprive, robbery under section 8 of the theft act 1968, burglary: entry, trespass and buildings, burglary under sections 9(1)(a) and 9(1)(b), and aggravated burglary and evaluating the law on theft, robbery and burglary. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Criminal Law: Property Offences organised?

By the WJEC 603-1978-1 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.