Criminal Damage

Section 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 (the 1971 Act) states that anyone who intentionally damages or destroys another person's property, or who is reckless about the possibility of doing so, is committing an offence. (The maximum sentence is a term of ten years in prison.) This offence may be broken down into five elements:

1. Damage

2. Property

3. Belonging to another

4. without lawful excuse Intention or reckless as to the damage or destruction

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lecture you should be able to:

1. State the actus reus and mens rea for the offences of Criminal Damage, Aggravated Criminal Damage and Arson;

2. understand the meaning of specific elements of actus reus, including “destroys or damages”, “property” and “belonging to another”;

3. know what type of mens rea should accompany the actus reus; apply the defence of “lawful excuse” (set out in s5(2) Criminal Damage Act 1971) to the charge of criminal damage; and

4. set out the elements of the offences of threatening to destroy or damage property, and of possession of items with intent to destroy or damage property.

Key Cases

Criminal Damage

Actus Reus

A (a juvenile) v R [1978] Crim LR 689

Roe v Kingerlee [1986] Crim LR 735

Hardman v Chief Constable of Avon & Somerset [1986] Crim LR 330

R v Whiteley (1991) 93 Cr App R 25

Mens Rea

R v Caldwell [1981] 1 All ER 961

R v Smith [1974] 1 All ER 632

Jaggard v Dickinson [1980] 3 All ER 716

R v Denton [1982] 1 All ER 65

Blake v DPP [1993] Crim LR 586

Requirements of Section 5(2)(b)

R v Baker & Wilkins [1997] Crim LR 497

Johnson v DPP [1994] Crim LR 673

R v Hunt [1977] Crim LR 740

Aggravated Criminal Damage

Actus Reus

R v Sangha [1988] 2 All ER 385

Mens Rea

R v Webster, R v Warwick [1995] 2 All ER 168

Arson

R v Miller [1983] 1 All ER 978