Recent Judicial Decisions
| Author | Rob Jerrard |
| Published date | 01 October 1998 |
| Date | 01 October 1998 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X9807100412 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Judicial Decisions |
ROB JERRARD, LLB, LLM
Legal Correspondent for The Police Journal
RECENT JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Criminal
Law - Aggravated
Burglary
and
Application of
the
Theft
Act 1968, s.10
R.
v.
Klass (1998) 162 IP 105 Court of Appeal
The statute
Section 9(1)(a) of the Theft Act provides:
"A person is guilty of burglary if -
(a) he enters any building or part of a building as a trespasser and
with intent to commit any such offence as is mentioned in
subs.(2) below."
One of the offences mentioned in subs.(2) is the offence of "stealing
anything in the building or part of the building in question".
Section 10 provides:
"A person is guilty of aggravated burglary if he commits any
burglary and at the time has with him ... any weapon of offence...;
and for this purpose -
(b) 'weapon of offence' means any article made or adapted for use
for causing injury to or incapacitating a person, or intended by
the person having it with him for such use."
The question
of
law raised on appeal
Can the offence of aggravated burglary be committed if the weapon was
not being carried by the burglar or one of the burglars who entered the
building?
In the Crown Court, Klass was convicted of aggravated burglary.
The facts
Mr Scarlett lived alone in a caravan situated behind a petrol station. He
went to bed shortly before 10 pm. Minutes later he heard voices and
then a knock at the door Someone said, "We're from London. We're
stranded. We want some help to get back to London." Mr Scarlett told
the callers that he could not help them and suggested that they try the
public house. After further conversation, they said "Okay" and then left.
Half an hour later he heard the sound of his window breaking, and
October 1998 The Police Journal 353
a voice said, "There he is". Mr Scarlett got out of bed and saw outside
a tall man, smartly dressed, with fair hair (Man Number 2). He was not
Klass. Mr Scarlett stepped out of the caravan after the door had been
wrenched open.
He saw that Number 2 had a piece of pole in his hand. He said to Mr
Scarlett, "Give us some money and you will not get hurt". Mr Scarlett
told him that he did not have any money and he did not keep it in the
caravan. Number 2 then smashed him over the head with the pole.
It
was pitch black at the time, but Mr Scarlett saw lights in a forecourt
about 40 yards away and ran towards them. The man followed him and
repeatedly struck him with the pole from top to toe. It was only this
man, Number 2, who ran after him.
By the time he reached the lights, Mr Scarlett was covered in blood.
He fell to the ground and his attacker ran back to the caravan. He was
taken to hospital with bruising all over his body and arms. He received
14 stitches to two lacerations on his scalp. On his return to the caravan,
he discovered there were two jackets missing, one of which contained a
BarcIaycard and a pair
of
glasses. Mr Scarlett was adamant that there
was more than one burglar, since the man who had chased him was not
the same man who had said, "There he is".
Several hours later, at about 2.45 am, a police officer went to an
address and saw a Vauxhall Nova parked on a driveway. Two men were
lying across the front seats. One of those two men was Klass and the
other was a man whom Klass was to call Paul. Paul was not the second
man, the man whom we have described as Number 2. Klass was
arrested for attempted theft
of
the vehicle and, on being cautioned,
replied, when asked about the burglary, "I was not even around that
area". However, Klass' fingerprints were found on a worktop in the
caravan.
In interview Klass admitted being outside the caravan. He and the
man he called Paul and another person, whom he was not prepared to
identify, had been in a stolen car and were looking for petrol in order to
return to London. One of them suggested that they rob a caravan. He
told the police that he was surprised when one of them - and that must
have been Number 2 - pulled a bar out. He said this:
"He just hit him once on the head with the pole and the man just
tried to
carryon
and run. He hit him again and hit him on the side
and hit him again, and then he chucked the pole at him. Then, like,
he kicked the man. Then I walked over to the pole and picked the
pole up and I slung it across the field out of the way so he wouldn't
pick it up again. Then he goes 'Grab him, grab him', but I didn't
really want to grab the man, and then, like, I stood in front of him
and I touched him, and like as I touched him I felt all the blood and
that, but where it was dark I could not see that he was bleeding. So,
like, as I touched him, I felt all the blood, and it's all on my jeans,
and I looked at it, and then the man started running. So I looked
354 The Police Journal October 1998
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