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-by Les Oldridge, AMIRTE, MIMI
Theft and the taking of motor vehicles (7)
IN MOST FIRMS, at some time or another, an employee is suspected of dishonesty. In some cases it will be known that someone is "light fingered" because stock is disappearing. Suspicion falls on everyone and the atmosphere in the company becomes strained.
The law on the question is quite clear for Section 1 of the Theft Act 1968 reads: "A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it". The maximum penalty is 10 years' imprisonment. Catching the thief is another matter and one is well advised to consult the local police as early as possible and put all the known facts before them. They can advise on the best way to catch the miscreant.
Whatever is stolen, a postage stamp or a hi-jacked load of whisky, the offence is the same — theft. The action to take on discovering the thief will depend, of course, on the seriousness of the crime. The tendency is to dismiss the thief but not to inform the police because a prosecution would follow. This saves a lot of trouble — no publicity, no time-wasting attendance at court — and one may think it a kindness to all concerned, including the offender's family. But. on the other hand. one leaves the thief free to obtain another post and recommence stealing. What action to take is a difficult decision to make and it can only be left to each individual employer's sense of what is right in each particular case.
Not only is it a serious matter to deprive a person of his liberty but wrongful detention could lead to an action for damages. What is the position, then, in respect of a person found stealing by his employer? The Criminal Law Act, 1967, Section 2 (1) creates what is known as "an arrestable offence" and states that such an offence is one which carries a penalty of more than five years imprisonment. As theft carries a 10 years' prison sentence it clearly falls within the "arrestable offence" category.
Section 2 (2) of the Criminal Law Act states that any person may arrest anyone committing an "arrestable offence" or whom he, with reasonable cause, suspects of committing such an offence. The following paragraph goes even further by giving power to any person to arrest without warrant anyone whom he reasonably suspects of being guilty of such an offence.
Quite clearly, a thieving employee can be detained under the powers given by the Criminal Law Act but when this is done the police should be informed immediately so that they can take over the prisoner into their custody as soon as possible.
For the offence of theft to be complete the offender must have the intention of permanently depriving the owner of the good. Where a vehicle is "borrowed" for a "joyride" this intent is not present in the mind of the person who takes the vehicle. He intends only to keep the vehicle for a short period and when it has served his purpose he abandons it knowing that eventually it will be discovered and returned to its rightful owner. Before the law caught up with "joyriders" it was common for the police to charge offenders guilty of taking cars without the consent of the owners with stealing the petrol they had used on their escapade because they knew the charge of stealing the vehicle could not be proved. As motor vehicles became more common and this type of offence more frequent a special section was inserted in the Road Traffic Act making it an offence to take and drive away a motor vehicle without the consent of the owner or other lawful authority.
Any conveyance The subject is now dealt with by Section 12 of the Theft Act, 1968, which makes it an offence for any person without the consent of the owner or other lawful authority to take any conveyance for his own or anyone else's use or, knowing that any conveyance has been taken without lawful authority, drives it or allows himself to be carried in it.
This Section, unlike the old Road Traffic Act one, refers to "conveyance" and not exclusively to motor vehicles so the offence can be committed by taking aircraft, boats, railway rolling stock or hovercraft as well as the more usual motor vehicle. It does not include conveyances not constructed for the carriage of persons. Pedal cycles are included in a special paragraph and any person taking one is subject to a £50 fine instead of the maximum three-year imprisonment for other conveyances.
More about taking conveyances next week and also the kindred offence of tampering with the mechanism of motor vehicles.