Theft

Mrs Davis falls down the stairs in the night and is seriously injured. Her husband puts her in the car, with a view to attending hospital, but finds the car won’t start. He notices that his neighbour’s car is in the driveway with the keys in the ignition. He takes his neighbour’s car, believing he wouldn’t mind, and makes his way to hospital. Has he acted dishonestly?

Whilst Jones is passing his neighbour’s house, he notices a splendid array of daffodils in the front garden and stops to commend the neighbour on the display. His neighbour explains that they have been coming up for years and that they are all growing wild. During the course of the night Jones enters the garden and picks about 40 daffs for his wife, who knows where they came from, and daughter who does not. Has an offence been committed?

Smith and Jones are out on a shoot in the country, and manage between them to shoot 12 pheasants during the course of the day. At close of play they gather their kill but can only find 10 pheasants and abandon the search due to rain and a desire to get to the pub. 2 pheasants remain undiscovered in the field. The local poacher finds the pheasants and picks them up and sells both the next day to the local butcher. What offence, if any, has been committed?

You attend the church fete on Sunday afternoon where there is a bring and buy sale. The ladies from the WI have a stall where they are selling their specialist jams, jarred the night before from wild strawberries picked fresh that morning in the National Trust woods. The jars are £2 each and the money is to go to the church roof restoration fund being organised by the vicar. What offence, if any, is being committed?

Davies asks his friend Brown to look after his house whilst Davies is on holiday in France for a month. After Davies leaves, Brown takes his new Curved HD television to the pawn brokers where he borrows £500 on the strength of the TV which he intends to return before Davies returns from holiday. In the event the TV is returned before Davies returns from holiday. What offence, if any, is committed?

Lord Haw-Haw is out shooting on his land and manages to shoot 8 pheasants. He finds 4 and his dogs pick up 1 other. He cannot find the other 3. He decides to look again after lunch. During lunch Bloggs picks up a pheasant and makes off. Having had too much to drink at lunch Haw-Haw decides to abandon the day in favour of bed. Bloggs returns and picks up the 2 remaining birds. At what point, if any, does Bloggs commit an offence?

A council notice has been served on Smith to tidy up his front lawn which is wholly overgrown and a mess. He refuses. Whilst Smith is on holiday, his neighbour, Brown tidies the area, cuts the lawn and disposes of the clippings. He informs the council of what he has done. What offence, if any, has Brown committed?

Police execute a warrant on Davidson’s home and find, amongst other things, a stolen car. His “defence” is that he bought it from a guy in a pub for £600 and produces a receipt. The car is worth about £500 and the receipt is indecipherable. Has Davidson stolen the car?

Smith fills his car with petrol, fails to pay, and leaves the petrol station. He is stopped by police 20 minutes later and states that “Oh, I thought I paid, can I go back and pay for it now”? Has Smith committed an offence?

Which of the following cannot be stolen?

Bella asks her friend Fiona, to look after her apartment for a fortnight, whilst she is away. In her absence, Fiona pawns Bella’s expensive clock. Fiona unexpectedly comes into some money and is able to redeem the clock before Bella returns. Has Fiona committed any offence under the Theft Act?

Morris receives his pay advice slip and notices he’s been overpaid by £200. Morris does nothing, and pays it into his savings account. Has Morris committed an offence against the Theft Act?

Mark parks his pickup outside a DIY store. He returns an hour later and finds an identical pickup parked next to his with two assistants loading a sit-on mower in the flat bed of his pickup. He drives home, keeps the mower and uses it himself. Has Mark appropriated the property?

Harry drops Peter off after a round of golf. Peter takes his clubs from the car boot leaving his putter behind by mistake. Harry notices this a few days later. Eventually Harry takes on the putter himself. Is this an appropriation?

Mrs Wilson pays £400 to a travel agent as a deposit toward a cruise. The travel agent ‘borrows’ the money to pay immediate debts but is able to replace the money the following month. Mrs Wilson has no knowledge of the ‘loan’ and suffers no loss. Has the travel agent appropriated the money?

Allan hands his car to a garage for an oil change. The foreman instructs a mechanic to change the oil. So far as ‘belonging to another’ is concerned, to whom does the car belong?

Jeremy enters a shop looking for things to steal. He takes a £50 gift card, a necklace worth £49 and a camera worth £200 but in the sale and priced at £99. Does this constitute low value shoplifting?

Can electricity be stolen?

Larry, staggering from the pub, sees a window open in the local school and gains entry. He goes to sleep and wakes at 3am confused. He finds a ‘phone and calls his pal for a lift. He climbs out of the school and makes off. What offences has Larry committed?

Which of the following is not ‘belonging to another’?