Magistrates' Courts
| Published date | 01 April 1977 |
| Date | 01 April 1977 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002201837704100202 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Magistrates' Courts
Comments
on
Cases
IS
"SQUATTING"
AN
"UNLAWFUL
PURPOSE"
WITHIN
THE
MEANING
OF
SECTION 4
0)
OF
THE
VAGRANCY
ACT
1824
R. Vo
Young
The
defendant
appeared
at
Londonderry
Petty
Sessions
before
Mr. JoM. Shearer,
Resident
Magistrate,
to
answer a
complaint:-
"that
on
the
4th
day
of March,
1976
at Carlisle
Road,
Londonderry,
in
the
said
district
and
county,
you,
the
said
defendant
were
found
in a building, to
wit,
adwellinghouse,
for an unlawful
purpose
'to
wit, to
squat
therein',
contrary
to
section
40)
of
the
Vagrancy
Act
1824,
as
substituted
by
section
57
of
the
Summary
Jurisdiction
and
Criminal
Justice
Act
(Northern
Ireland)
1935,
amended
by
section 18 of
the
Summary
Jurisdiction
and
Criminal
Justice
Act
(Northern
Ireland)
1958".
If
a
person
with
intent
wrongfully
to
take
possession
of
or use
any
premises, wilfully
enters
upon
such premises (see
section
1(I)(a)
of
the
Summary
Jurisdiction
(Miscellaneous Provisions)
Act
(Northern
Ireland)
1946)
he is guilty
of
acriminal
offence
punishable summarily.
This
offence
is
commonly
called
"squatting".
The
question
arose as to
whether
"squatting"
is an
"unlawful
purpose"
within
the
meaning
of
section
40)
of
the
Vagrancy
Act
of
1824
or
not,
the
defendant
when
found
in
the
premises having
admitted
that
he
had
squatted
in
the
premises
and
such
admission
being relied
upon
by
the
Prosecution
to
found
the
present
complaint.
Mr.
Shearer
referred
to an
extract
from page
2876
of
the
5th
Volume
of
the
4th
Edition
of
Stroud's
Judicial
Dictionary
which
reads:-
"Unlawful
Purpose"
(1)
An
"Unlawful
purpose"
within
s.4 Vagrancy
Act
1824
(5 Geo, 4. c.83) means
the
intention
to
commit
(as distinguished
from
having
been
actually guilty
of, (R. v. Simpson,
15
L.P.
246,
790) an
offence
punishable
criminally,
and
as distinguished
from
what
is
immoral,
ego
fornication
(Hayes Vo Stevenson, 3L.T. 296),
and
held
that
on
the
defendant
entering
the
premises he was
guilty
of
an
offence
punishable criminally
under
said
section
of
the
77
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