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GDL Law Notes GDL Criminal Law Notes

Criminal Damage Notes

Updated Criminal Damage Notes

GDL Criminal Law Notes

GDL Criminal Law

Approximately 551 pages

A collection of the best GDL notes the director of Oxbridge Notes (an Oxford law graduate) could find after combing through applications from top students and carefully evaluating each on accuracy, formatting, logical structure, spelling/grammar, conciseness and "wow-factor". In short these are what we believe to be the strongest set of GDL notes available in the UK this year. This collection of GDL notes is fully updated for recent exams, also making them the most up-to-date GDL study materials ...

The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our GDL Criminal Law Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:

Criminal Damage revision notes--mock

Basic crim damage –s1(1)

AR:

  • damage/destroy:

    • Matter of ‘fact and degree’ (Samuels v Stubbs).

    • Can be temporary damage (Morphitas v Salmon; Fiak).

    • Expense/effort to restore?

      • A (A juvenile) v R, no expense re spitting on policeman’s coat, could just be wiped clean.

      • Hardman v Chief Const Avon & Somerset: silhouettes painted on pavement using soluble paint; expense by council to clear up, doesn’t matter wasn’t permanent.

      • Roe v Kingerlee: smeared mud on walls of police cell; cost to remove = damage.

    • Impairment of value or usefulness? (Morphitas v Salmon scratching on scaffolding, no impairment of value/usefulness).

      • Also Fiak stuffed blanket down lavatory in cell; flushed until floor flooded; cell & Blanket rendered temporarily useless.

  • Property—s10(1)

    • Tangible nature, real or personal, including money and (a) wild creatures tamed; (b) not including wild mushrooms/flowers etc. [[say, eg: ‘this is tangible, personal property’]]

    • ‘Tangible’ property, not information (R v Whitely).

  • Belonging to another-s10(2)

    • Can belong to more than one person, to oneself and another (eg if breaking a vase that belongs to you but also your wife).

    • Note, s10(2) includes someone with a proprietary right/interest-.

    • And someone with a ‘charge’ (s10(2)(c), eg a mortgagee. So could damage ‘own’ house if is mortgaged.

    • [[insurance company has an interest in the property, but not a proprietary one—Lucena v Craufurd]].

    • (includes own property for s1(2), aggravated criminal damage).

  • Unlawfully

MR:

  • Intention/reckless as to destroying/damaging property belonging to another.

    • Intention—ordinary meaning (R v Maloney)—aim/purpose.

    • [[no oblique intent]].

    • Reckless—R v G: reckless to (i) circumstances/result wen aware of the risk AND (ii) in circumstances, unreasonable to take that risk (social utility). –if no social utility—then not reasonable risk, even if very small risk (Chief Const Somerset & Avon v Shimmen).

  • (1) (R v Smith)—D knows, or is reckless, to the property belonging to another (MR extends to whole of AR).

    • [[an ‘honest though mistaken belief’ that the property is his own no MR, Smith (James LJ)]]

    • R v Smith: Tenant stripped wiring and floorboards etc; honestly believed was his own property; ignorance of civil law (land law) is can excuse. Not liable if honestly believed property belonged to himself.

  • (2) Intention/reckless as to destroy/damage the property

    • For reckless, need to show also that the risk is unreasonable to take.

    • [[if you have strong evidence of direct intent, you don’t need to consider recklessness]].

Aggravated crim dam –s1(2)

AR

  • Destroy/damage [same as basic crim damage]

  • Property [same as basic crim damage]—tangible property—s10(1); R v Whitely

  • Belonging to D or another (can apply to own property), different to s1(1).

  • Without lawful excuse (special defences in s5 don’t apply).

  • [[NOTE, no need for life to be actually endangered, not part of AR (R v Sangha)—could note this here or in MR]].

MR

  • Intention or reckless as to destroying/damage property.

    • Intention (Maloney); reckless (R v G).

  • AND Intention/reckless as to endangering the life of another by the damage/destruction:

    • Intention (Maloney); or reckless (R v G).

    • R v Sangha (firebomb through letter box; flat was empty): doesn’t matter whether life was actually endangered [this bit is only MR, not AR]. [[conduct crime, not result]].

    • Also Dudley (firebomb at house; family put out the fire)—no need for life to actually be endangered.

    • R v Steer (fired shots at G, danger to life arose from the cause of the damage, the firing of gun, rather than the damage to property): The danger must come from the damage caused, not directly from the cause of the damage (Steer; Dudley; Webster).

    • Webster: Pushed stone from bridge onto train below. D only intended to endanger life by the stone itself crashing through roof of train; but court found that D was also reckless as to whether the collapsing roof itself of train endangered life of passengers (though this was before R v G test). A ‘dismal distinction’.

    • Where damage caused by fire---risk to life always arises from damage to the property (R v Steer—the burning property produces the flames and smoke, ‘ensuing conflagration’).

Defences

  • General defences apply (duress, self-defence, prevention of crime etc)—not the lawful excuses in s5

Arson—s(3) + s1(1)

AR

  • destroys or damages

  • property

  • belonging to another

  • ‘by fire’: ordinary meaning.

  • Without lawful excuse.

MR—intends/reckless to damage/destruction property belonging to another by fire.

Defences: can use s5 lawful excuses.

Aggravated arson—s(3) + s1(2)

AR

  • destroys/damages

  • property

  • belonging to himself OR another

  • by fire.

  • Without lawful excuse

MR:

  • Intention/reckless as to destroying/damaging property by fire.

  • Intention/reckless as to endangering life by fire.

Defences: cannot use S5 lawful excuses

S2—Making threats to destroy or damage property (s2(a)—aggravated)

AR

  • Makes a threat to another person to:

    • (a)

      • destroy/damage

      • property

      • belonging to that other or a third person;

    • or (b)

      • destroy/damage

      • his own property

      • in a way which he knows is likely to endanger the life of that other or third person.

    • [[NOTE: if D makes a threat to destroy another’s property in a way he knows will endanger life, this has to be charged under s2(a) not (b)]].

  • Without lawful excuse

MR

  • Intention that that other would fear it would be carried out.

Defences: s5 ‘without lawful excuse’ applies, unless committed in a way that endangers life.

S3—Possessing anything with intention to destroy/damage property – s3 (s3(b)—aggravated)

AR

  • Has anything in his custody or control.

MR

  • Intending, without lawful excuse, to use it or cause or permit another to...

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