Robbery

What is Robbery?

Robbery is a statutory offence under s.8 of the Theft Act 1968 it carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Robbery definition

A person is guilty of robbery if he steals and immediately before or at the time of doing so and in order to do so uses force on any person or puts or seeks to put any person in fear of being then and there subjected to force.

Actus reus of robbery

• All elements of theft must be present

• Use (or the fear of use) of force

Robinson

D held an honest belief that he had the right in law to take the property he would not be dishonest so one of the elements of theft would be missing.

Force making robbery

Where force is used to steal then the moment the theft occurs there is a robbery.

Corcoran

D hit V and tugged at her bag but D ran off without it as V was attracting attention with her screaming. The theft was complete so D was guilty of robbery.

Minimal force

Only a minimal amount of force is required provided it is on the person.

Dawson and James

The jury was entitled to decide that nudging in order to steal amounted to force.

Clouden

D wrenched a shopping basket from V's hand so using force on the bag was effectively using force on the victim.

DPP

D snatched a cigarette from V's hand without touching V in any way so it could not be said force was used on a person.

Threat of force

The threat of force is sufficient even if V is not actually frightened by D's actions.

B and R v DPP

Ds took V's phone and money but V said he had not felt threatened. Ds had sought to put V in fear of force and there was no need to show that V felt threatened.

On any person meaning

On any person means that the person threatened need not be the person stolen from.

Timing of force

There is no decided case on what sort of time period is covered by immediately before but the courts have taken a realistic approach of at the time of.

Hale

There was force immediately before the theft when D1 put his hand over V's mouth and tying up V was using force at the time of the theft as the act of appropriating can be considered continuing.

Lockley

D stole beer from a shop and then used force on the shopkeeper who tried to stop him from escaping. The court confirmed the ruling in Hale that the theft was still ongoing at the time the force was used.

Mens rea of robbery

For the mens rea of robbery D must have the mens rea for theft namely dishonesty and intention to permanently deprive the other of the property.

MR Robinson

Confirms that D must have dishonesty and intention to permanently deprive.

Intent to use force

D must have intent to use force to steal.

Force purpose

The force must be used in order to steal so if the force was not used for this purpose then any later theft will not make it into a robbery.

Vinnall

Ds punched V who fell off his bike and threatened him then later took his bike. Force was not used in order to steal so there was no robbery.