Divisional Courts
| Published date | 01 May 1981 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201838104500201 |
| Date | 01 May 1981 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Divisional Courts
Comments
on
Cases
HONEST BELIEF?
laggard v. Dickinson
S.1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 provides that "a person who
without lawful excuse destroys or damages any property belonging to
another intending to destroy or damage any such property or being
reckless as to whether any suchproperty would be damaged or destroyed
shall be guilty of an offence".
Thus the intent required to found the offence is a "basic intent"
rather than a "specific intent".
S.5(2) of that Act provides a defendant with a defence, in that it
provides, inter alia, that he shall be treated as having "a lawful excuse".
(a)
"if
at the time of the act or acts alleged to constitute the offence
he believed that the person or persons whom he believed to be
entitled to the destruction of or damage to the property in question
had so consented, or would have so consented to it if he or they
had known of the destruction or damage and its circumstances
...
"
(3) For the purposes of this section
it
is immaterial whether a
belief is justified or not if it is honestly held.
In this case [1981] 2 W.L.R. 119, the Defendant, Beverley
Anne
laggard, had a close relationship with a Mr. Heyfron who lived at 67
Carnach Green, South Ockenden, as a result of which she was allowed
by him to treat his property at 67 Carnach Green as her own. On the
night of the 12th October 1978, she, having been drinking, got a taxi
to drive her to that address. In fact, the taxi dropped her outside 35
Carnach Green which looked exactly the same as Number 67. She went
into the garden of Number 35 and was asked to leave by the occupier,
who she did not know. She then broke the glass in the hallway to the
house, went to the back door and broke another window, thereby
getting into the house and damaging a net curtain in the process.
59
To continue reading
Request your trial