31. Offences against public order

The Public Order Act 1986 is the principal source of public order offences. These are riot, violent disorder and affray, along with inducing fear of violence and behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. Some of the offences in the 1986 Act may be committed in private, but their public order foundations are paramount and these offences should not be treated as merely additional offences against the person. This chapter deals with offences against public order. It also considers harassment, alarm or distress, racially aggravated public order offences and acts intended or likely to incite racial or religious hatred and hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. The chapter concludes by looking at public nuisance and vicarious liability.

30. Obscene communication and publication offences

This chapter deals with the offences addressed in the Obscene Publications Acts 1959 and 1964, and related offences. These offences not only have implications for the freedom of speech but also raise important issues about the appropriate boundaries of criminalization. Obscene publications are governed by s 2(1) of the Obscene Publications Act 1959. This chapter also considers extreme pornography and other offensive communications offences such as malicious communications, obscenity in the theatre, possession of prohibited images of children, posting indecent or obscene matter, indecent displays, outraging public decency, revenge porn, and the common law offences of blasphemy, libel and sedition.

26. Handling and related offences

This chapter deals with handling of stolen goods and related offences. Under s 22 of the Theft Act 1968, a person who dishonestly receives goods, or dishonestly undertakes or assists in their retention, removal, disposal or realization by or for the benefit of another person, or if he arranges to do so knowing or believing that they are stolen goods, is guilty of the offence of handling stolen goods. English law treats this offence as an independent crime rather than one of being an ‘accessory after the fact’ to theft. The chapter considers the actus reus and mens rea of handling stolen goods, when goods cease to be stolen, handling by omission, the ‘doctrine’ of recent possession, dishonest retention of a wrongful credit, advertising for the return of stolen goods and money laundering. It concludes with an overview of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

25. Burglary and related offences

Burglary is an offence under the Theft Act 1968. The offence is not confined to ‘breaking and entering’ in order to steal, but involves entering any building or part of a building as a trespasser and with intent to steal anything in the building or inflict or attempt to inflict on any person therein any grievous bodily harm. A separate form of burglary is found in s 9(1)(b) of the Theft Act 1968 where a person has entered as a trespasser and thereafter attempted to steal, actually stolen something, inflicted grievous bodily harm or attempted to inflict grievous bodily harm. This chapter looks at burglary and related offences, and also discusses aggravated burglary and the articles of aggravation, as well as trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence.

22. The Fraud Act 2006

This chapter considers the offences under the Fraud Act 2006 and the important body of case law that now exists interpreting the 2006 Act. It discusses the common elements of the offence of fraud; namely, dishonesty (including the impact of Ivey), with intent to gain or cause loss or to expose to a risk of loss, and remoteness of intention. The fraud offences are each examined in turn: fraud by false representation, fraud by failing to disclose information, fraud by abuse of position, possession of articles for fraud, and making or supplying articles for use in frauds. The chapter provides extensive discussion of the desirability of having a general fraud offence and examines the difficulties encountered in relying so much upon the concept of dishonesty.

21. Making off without payment

This chapter considers the offence of making off without payment. Under s 3 of the Theft Act 1978, a person is guilty of an offence if he dishonestly makes off without making payment as required or expected and with the intent to avoid payment of the amount due. The offence aims to deal in a simple and straightforward way with a person who having consumed a meal in a restaurant, or filled the tank of the car with petrol, or reached their destination in a taxi, leaves without paying. Although factually simple, difficulties arise in prosecuting such cases as theft. The chapter covers various elements including goods supplied or service done, unenforceable debts and dishonesty.

20. Offences of temporary deprivation

Theft involves an intention to deprive another permanently of their property. The criminal law has also devised offences involving temporary deprivation of property including the taking of vehicles and the taking of vessels, both of which are currently dealt with in s 12 of the Theft Act 1968. The Theft Act 1968 also includes another offence of temporary deprivation: removal of articles from places open to the public. In this case, the article must be removed from the building or from its grounds before the actus reus and mens rea of the offence can be completed. In other words, removal from the building to the grounds or vice versa will suffice.

16. Non-fatal offences against the person

This chapter focuses on non-fatal offences against the person, including assault and battery, wounding and inflicting grievous bodily harm, poisoning offences, kidnapping, harassment, possession and use of offensive weapons. The chapter also discusses defences to assault and battery including consent, and lawful chastisement, in addition to the Law Commission’s Report on reforming offences against the person. The discussion includes a detailed analysis of the relevant statutory offences including the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, and the Prevention of Crime Act 1953. It also considers racially or religiously aggravated versions of the relevant offences.

10. General defences

This chapter considers general defences other than those focused on the mental condition of the accused, and looks at cases where the defendant will usually have performed the actus reus with the appropriate mens rea. These general defences include infancy (children less than ten years old and children ten years old and above), duress, necessity and orders of a superior. The chapter also discusses public and private defence (‘self’-defence), the statutory ‘clarification’ of these defences, and the controversy over householder self-defence, force used in the course of preventing crime or arresting offenders, force used in private defence, entrapment, and impossibility.

5. Crimes of strict liability

Offences of strict liability are those crimes that do not require mens rea or even negligence as to one or more elements in the actus reus. Where an offence is interpreted to be one of strict liability, the accused will be criminally liable even if he could not have avoided the prescribed harm despite attempting to do so. Where someone is accused of strict liability, it is not necessary for the prosecution to tender evidence of mens rea as to the matter of strict liability. This chapter discusses strict liability and its distinction from ‘absolute’ liability, crimes of strict liability in common law and statutes, strict liability and the presumption of innocence, the presumption of mens rea, the severity of punishment for strict liability, arguments for and against strict liability, the imposition of liability for negligence, and statutory due diligence defences.