Burglary

2 types of Burglary S. 9(1) Theft Act 1968 – person is guilty of burglary if: He enters any building or part of a building as a trespasser and with intent to commit an offence of stealing, inflicting grievous bodily harm, or doing unlawful damage; OR Having entered any building or part of a building as a trespasser he steals or attempts to steal anything in the building or that part of it or inflicts or attempts to inflict on any person therein any grievous bodily harm

S.9(1) (a) Emphasis in on Mens Rea D does not need to commit any of the offences (called ulterior offences) but must intend to do so when entering Actus Reus: Enters A building or part of a building As a trespasser Mens Rea: Knowledge or recklessness as to entering as a trespasser Intent to commit theft, grievous bodily harm or damage to the building or its contents

S. 9(1) (b) Emphasis is on Actus Reus D must either commit or attempt to commit one of the ulterior offences but need not intend to do so when entering Actus Reus: Enters A building or part of a building As a trespasser Actus Reus of theft/GBH/attempted theft/attempted GBH Mens Rea: Knowledge or recklessness as to his entry as a trespasser MR for theft/GBH

AR - To a building or part of one For Both a) and b) AR - Entry AR - As a trespasser AR - To a building or part of one MR – knowledge or recklessness as to the trespass Plus For a) at the time of entry D has the MR of intent to steal, commit GBH or criminal damage by no further AR is needed For b) no need for MR at the time of entry but AR and MR of theft or GBH (or attempted theft or GBH) are needed

Common Element 1 - Enters Entry is done when “effective entry” has taken place – a question of fact and depends on whether enough of D is in the building to achieve the ulterior intent (S.9(1) (a)) or commit the crime or attempt the crime (S.9(1) (b)) Collins – entry needs to be “effective and substantial” – this means that it enables the crime to be committed not that D’s body was wholly or partly inside the building Brown – D seen with head and shoulders inside a broken shop window – enough for effective entry as he could handle the goods in the shop Ryan – V found D stuck in downstairs window of house. D’s head and arm inside the window which had fallen on his neck and trapped him, rest of body outside. Held that partial entry was sufficient even though he couldn’t have stolen anything – suggests that entry no longer needs to be sufficient or effective (contrary to Collins) Nb – if D is standing with a fishing rod through a letter box or using a remote device to steal this will still amount to entry as device is likely to be considered as an extension of D’s body

Common Element 2 - Building or part thereof No formal definition of building, but has to be fairly permanent structure E.g. probably excludes a tent so theft from a tent at a music festival would remain as theft and not burglary S.9(3) Theft Act 1968 – definition of building includes an inhabited vehicle or vessel, including when the person having habitation in it is not there E.g. caravan when it is being used to live in would be a building but not when it is simply being used as a vehicle or parked up over winter Also includes outbuildings and sheds Only necessary to enter part of a building as a trespasser – so if someone has permission to enter parts of a building but not others (e.g. a staff only sign on a door in a shop) they would be held to have entered a building as a trespasser if they enter that part Walkington – part of a building can include a partitioned off area of a shop – in this case the partitioned section of the till

Common Element 3 – As a Trespasser As seen in Walkington trespass includes entry into part of a building that D does not have express or implied permission to enter Trespass is entering a building or part of a building in the possession of another without permission or a legal right to do so Permission can be given expressly or impliedly A person who has permission to enter for one purpose but enters for another would be entering as a trespasser Jones and Smith – D’s were convicted of burglary because they had knowingly exceeded their permission to be in the house – permission was not given to enter and steal things even though one D was the son of the owner who said his son would never be a trespasser in his house

Common Element 4 – Knowledge or Recklessness as to the Trespass Entry must be voluntary – not forced by another or accidental Cunningham recklessness applies - where D knows there is a risk but is willing to take it and takes it deliberately

Consideration of the Common Elements Collins – D climbed a ladder outside a house and saw a naked young woman asleep in her bed. He descended the ladder and stripped naked (apart from his socks) then climbed the ladder to the girl’s windowsill. The woman thought it was her boyfriend and invited him in where they proceeded to have sexual intercourse Not entry as it was not substantial – was only on the windowsill when she invited him in Not trespass as she invited him in

Different Elements – S.9(1) (a) - at the time of entry D has the MR of intent to steal, commit GBH or criminal damage by no further AR is needed D does not have to have committed the offence Only needs to have MR of intent to commit either theft, GBH or criminal damage to the building or its contents D must form the intention before he entered the building as a trespasser Can be conditional intent – e.g. to steal jewellery if there is jewellery inside the building

Different Elements – S.9(1) (b) - no need for MR at the time of entry but AR and MR of theft or GBH (or attempted theft or GBH) are needed D must commit or attempt to commit theft or grievous bodily harm Note that S.9(1) (b) does not include criminal damage Requires the full AR and MR of either theft or grievous bodily harm For grievous bodily harm, can be S.20 or S.18 OAPA 1861 So MR for S.20 is enough – Mowatt – enough that D foresee some physical harm to some person