Impact Of Laws On Loss And Damage To Property

Illustrate the impact of laws on loss or damage to property

Under the theft act 1968, a person’s guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another, with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it. In the case of R.V Turner, he stole his own car from a car garage without paying the debt of the new part fitted to his car therefore he was convicted for stealing his own car. R.V tuner believed he was not stealing his car as the car was registered to his name, but under the theft act 1968 he was stealing, as the new part fitted to his car belonged to the car garage owner therefore he was stealing until the debt is not paid for the car’s owner is the car garages owner. The theft act 1968 consist of 5 sections, section 2 dishonesty, 3 appropriations, 4 property, 5 belonging to another, 6 intention to permanently deprive. In the case of R.V Morris, he was caught switching price labels in a supermarket, he was arrested before paying for the goods he was convicted under the theft appropriation act section 3. The impact of laws on loss and damage to property is very good because it prevents people from committing criminal offences such as stealing, criminal damage or arson as the laws are in place to give harsher punishments to those who choose to break the law, therefore fewer people choose to be in part of the crime. As in the 21’s century most people that believe they are likely to be a target of crime usually install a surveillance camera in their homes to prevent crime. As police recruits have increased as well this means there are more police on the roads than ever before to tackle crime, this means more police less crime. In the event of criminal damage or robbery, the police advise the public to make their homes harder for criminals to enter such as higher fences, covered glass around the property, ensuring that a potential target is out of view can all contribute to a safer community and reduce the chances of being a victim of crime. As homes are usually targets of criminals, cars are targeted as well due to the valuable things left inside their car such as expensive phones, money, bags, unintended items such as stereo systems, navigation (GPS) police advise the public to keep your vehicle locked at all times even when driving this prevent a car hijack in the event of a criminal having a weapon such as a knife or gun can easily take control over your car and steal it in front of your eyes, therefore it is very important to keep the car doors locked at all times. Police also advise not to leave keys in the car as this increases the chances of being a victim of crime, police also advise avoiding leaving valuables in the car as this will increase the chances of robbers smashing and grabbing the valuables which will leave your car damaged and your valuables gone. In the event of a crime, there are many people who are affected and left helpless due to stricter laws, rules and regulations police have cutting edge technology to tackle crime and bring those people who are affected to justice. There also needs to be an appropriation of all the rights of an owner. As R.V Morris switched labels of items in a store to get something for a cheaper price, by applying the level of culpability to harm provide a grade e.g. A1 or D2 least seriousness, the aggravating and mitigating circumstances are applied to each crime committed by an offender.

Impact of laws written to prevent loss damage to property

the definition of property damage covers the loss of use of tangible property, whether or not the property has been physically injured. Loss of use means the inability to use the property. Property damage includes the loss of use of property that has been physically injured. Due to tougher laws, the impacts of laws on loss and damage to property is good as it prevents many criminals from committing crimes as the laws have stricter punishments such as hefty fines, longer sentences for criminals such as 10 years imprisonment. Usually, for property damage or loss a criminal can be convicted for a year in imprisonment, and a maximum of £5000 fine in order to recover the damage, in some cases it depends on the damage done to the property and according to that a criminal need to pay or be convicted for a crime. There are 3 types of laws related to the theft act 1986 common law, early legislation, consolidation. Common law is usually the 3rd branch presented in a UK unwritten constitution. The early legislation is usually passed by parliament secondary or delegated legislation (statutory instruments) is also produced usually by government departments. There are several laws that prevent damage and loss to property such as primary prevention which focuses on the environment within which crime occurs. It suggests that the crime can be prevented by reducing the opportunities that are conducive to its commission. Secondary prevention this method usually targets those deemed to be most likely to embark on criminal activities and is the basis of programmes seeking to divert those perceived to be most at risk of offending. These include one visit a day by young offenders to adult prison where they attend presentations given by inmates on the realities of prison life. Tertiary prevention- this approach is directed at known offenders and seeks to prevent crime by stopping them from reoffending. These varied approaches are normally related to many agencies- the police force was normally assassinated with primary prevention methods and the probation service and penal institution with tertiary reduction. But the increase in the use of multi-agency and partnership approaches has decreased the borderline between the work carried out by the organisations.

The definition of property

Property crime usually means a section or category of crime, usually involving private property, that includes various other crimes such as larceny, burglary, theft, car theft, arson, shoplifting and vandalism these are crimes but not very serious crimes since these crimes are committed to enriching the perpetrator they are believed to be property crimes.

Analyse the definition of property as outlined in the theft act 1968, using any relevant case law.

Properly reference definition

Theft act 1968 provides that a person is guilty of theft if they dishonestly appropriate property belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive the other of it. He is also found guilty if he uses these terms dishonesty, appropriates, property belonging to another, with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it. If the defendant in court uses dishonesty in court he will be charged accordingly to his committed act as you are usually sworn to speak out the truth. if the defendant uses appropriation over any stolen goods he/she will be charged accordingly, in the event of stealing somebody property such as a bicycle and riding it and proving appropriation over it such as ownership over it. Under section 4 property if the defendant stole anything from the property he will be liable for stealing in the event of property damage under anger or under consciousness he/she will be charged with criminal damage, the property could be anything belonging to another such as money, bicycle, car, things inside the property, any damage or theft will bring the defendant liable due to the criminal acts he/she committed. Under section 5 belonging to another, a person can be liable for causing damage or even property theft such as breaking into a property such as a house or building and stealing all the goods inside it could be anything such as T.V, watches, jewellery, laptops, computers, under the section 5 act a person can be liable for criminal acts such as those shown above. Under the section 6 intention to permanently deprive somebody else’s property a person could be faced with a hefty fine and even imprisonment depending on the crimes committed, under section 6 could also be depriving others property without their knowledge which could lead to conflict which is just going to put more charges against a criminal who could be liable for property deprivation and could be fined and imprisonment. Under section 7 theft committed by a defendant could go to imprisonment and could be liable for less than 7 years imprisonment, theft could be stealing something and accepting ownership over something without the knowledge of the owner or without paying for a specific item put for sale by the owner. Under the section 8 robbery, a person liable for committing a robbery by assault would be an indictment for life imprisonment, in the event of robbing a house and an owner fighting back could be classed as self-defence such as owner protecting their property in the event of robbery and the defendant commits assault by causing harm to body and limb could be liable for life imprisonment. Under section 9 burglary an offence the entry has to be with intent to commit one of the 3 offences listed the entry may be the entry of the full-body, entry of part of the body or entry by an instrument such as fish line extender could be used to steal the key of an expensive sports car on the drive. Under section 10 aggravated burglary creates the offence of aggravated burglary, provides that a person is guilty of that offence is liable, on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for life. So this shows there are sections for each every crime that could be committed by a defendant, in order to give them a reasonable punishment for each offence these sections were properly examined to keep the human right element in mind so the severe the crime the severe the consequences such as a defendant committing murder in order to commit robbery could be committed life imprisonment.