12. Offences under the Theft Acts 1968 and 1978: Theft and related offences

Abstract

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on series provides an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. This chapter discusses offences under the Theft Acts of 1968 and 1978. It covers each element of the offence of theft (dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention permanently to deprive), abstracting electricity, robbery, and offences involving temporary deprivation. It discusses the meaning of ‘dishonesty’, including the Supreme Court’s decision in Ivey v Genting Casinos UK Ltd (2018), which held that the two-part Ghosh test for dishonesty no longer applies. The Law in Context feature analyses critically the criminalisation of ‘freeganism’.