(1) On the trial of an indictment for obtaining or attempting to obtain any chattel, money, or valuable security by any false pretence, it shall not be necessary to prove an intent to defraud any particular person, but it shall be sufficient to prove that the person accused did the act charged with intent to defraud.
(2) An allegation in an indictment that money or banknotes have been embezzled or obtained by false pretences can, so far as regards the description of the property, be sustained by proof that the offender embezzled or obtained any piece of coin or any banknote or any portion of the value thereof, although such piece of coin or banknote may have been delivered to him in order that some part of the value thereof should be returned to any person and such part has been returned accordingly.
(3) In an indictment for feloniously receiving any property under this Act any number of persons who have at different times so received such property or any part thereof may be charged and tried together.
(4) If any person, who is a member of any co-partnership or is one of two or more beneficial owners of any property, steals or embezzles any such property of or belonging to such co-partnership or to such beneficial owners he shall be liable to be dealt with, tried, and punished as if he had not been or was not a member of such co-partnership or one of such beneficial owners.
(5) In Ireland the following provisions shall have effect with respect to indictments :—
(a) In an indictment for an offence against this Act with reference to any instrument, it shall be sufficient to describe such instrument by any name or designation by which it is usually known, or by its purport, without setting out any copy or facsimile thereof or otherwise describing it or its value :
(b) In an indictment for any offence of stealing under this Act, distinct acts of stealing, not exceeding three, which have been committed by the person accused against the same person within the space of six months, may be charged in separate counts of the same indictment and tried together :
(c) If on the trial of an indictment for stealing any property it appears that the property alleged in such indictment to have been stolen at one time was taken at different times, such separate takings may be tried together to a number not exceeding three, provided that not more than the space of six months elapsed between the first and the last of such takings:
(d) In an indictment for any offence of embezzlement or of fraudulent application or disposition against this Act, distinct acts of embezzlement or of fraudulent application or disposition not exceeding three, which have been committed by him against the same person within the space of six months, may be charged in separate counts of the same indictment and tried together; and where such offence relates to any money or valuable security it shall not be necessary to specify any particular coin or valuable security; and such allegation shall be sustained whether the offender is proved to have embezzled or to have fraudulently applied or disposed of any amount, although the particular coin or valuable security of which such amount was composed is not proved, or whether he is proved to have embezzled or to have fraudulently applied or disposed of any valuable security which has been delivered to him in order that some part of the value thereof should be returned to any person and such part has been returned accordingly :
(e) In every case of stealing any chattel or fixture under section sixteen of this Act (relating to tenants and lodgers) it shall be lawful to prefer an indictment in the same form as if the offender were not a tenant or lodger:
(f) In an indictment for stealing any document of title to lands, it shall be sufficient to allege such document to be or to contain evidence of the title or of part of the title of the person or of someone of the persons having an interest, whether vested or contingent, legal or equitable, in the real estate to which the same relates, and to mention such real estate or some part thereof:
(g) In an indictment for an offence under this Act with respect to any will, codicil, or other testamentary document, record, or other legal document whatsoever, or anything made of metal fixed in any square or street, or in any place dedicated to public use or ornament, or in any burial-ground, it shall not be necessary to allege the same to be the property of any person:
(h) In an indictment under section sixteen of this Act it shall be lawful to lay the property alleged to be stolen in the owner or person letting to hire :
(i) In an indictment for obtaining or attempting to obtain any chattel, money, or valuable security by any false pretence, it shall be sufficient to allege that the person accused did the act with intent to defraud, without alleging an intent to defraud any particular person and without alleging any ownership of the chattel, money, or valuable security :
(j) Charges of stealing any property and of feloniously receiving the same property or any part thereof may he included in separate counts of the same indictment and such counts may be tried together :
(k) Any person or persons charged in separate counts of the same indictment with stealing any property and with feloniously receiving the same property or any part thereof may severally be found guilty either of stealing or of receiving the said property or any part thereof.
(1) Any person found committing any offence punishable under this Act except an offence under section thirty-one may be immediately apprehended without a warrant by any person and forthwith taken, together with the property, if any, before a justice of the peace to be dealt with according to law.
(2) Any person to whom any property is offered to be sold, pawned, or delivered, if he has reasonable cause to suspect that any offence has been committed against this Act with respect to such property, shall, if in his power, apprehend and. forthwith take before a justice of the peace the person offering the same, together with such property, to be dealt with according to law.
(3) Any constable or peace officer may take into custody without warrant any person whom he finds lying or loitering in any highway, yard, or other place during the night, and whom he has good cause to suspect of having committed or being about to commit any felony against this Act, and shall take such person as soon as reasonably may be before a justice of the peace to be dealt with according to law.
(1) If it is made to appear by information on oath before a justice of the peace that there is reasonable cause to believe that any person has in his custody or possession or on his premises any property whatsoever, with respect to which any offence against this Act has been committed, the justice may grant a warrant to search for and seize the same.
(2) (a) Any constable or peace officer may, if authorised in writing by a chief officer of police, enter any house, shop, warehouse, yard, or other premises, and search for and seize any property he believes to have been stolen, and, where any property is seized in pursuance of this section, the person on whose premises it was at the time of seizure or the person from whom it was taken shall, unless previously charged with receiving the same knowing it to have been stolen, be summoned before a court of summary jurisdiction to account for his possession of such property, and such court shall make such order respecting the disposal of such property and may award such costs as the justice of the case may require.
(b) It shall be lawful for any chief officer of police to give such authority as aforesaid—
(i) when the premises to be searched are or within the preceding twelve months have been in the occupation of any person who has been convicted of receiving stolen property or of harbouring thieves ; or
(ii) when the premises to be searched are in the occupation of any person who has been convicted of any offence involving fraud or dishonesty and punishable with penal servitude or imprisonment.
(c) It shall not be necessary for such chief officer of police on giving such authority to specify any particular property, but he may give such authority if he has reason to believe generally that such premises are being made a receptacle for stolen goods.
(1) Whenever any person is being proceeded against for receiving any property, knowing it to have been stolen, or for having in his possession stolen property, for the purpose of proving guilty knowledge there may be given in evidence at any stage of the proceedings—
(a) the fact that other property stolen within the period of twelve months preceding the date of the offence charged was found or had been in his possession ;
(b) the fact that within the five years preceding the date of the offence charged he was convicted of any offence involving fraud or dishonesty.
This last-mentioned fact may not be proved unless—
(i) seven days' notice in writing has been given to the offender that proof of such previous conviction is intended to be given ;
(ii) evidence has been given that the property in respect of which the offender is being tried was found or had been in his possession.
(2) No person shall be liable to be convicted of any offence against sections six, seven subsection (1), twenty, twenty-one, and twenty-two of this Act upon any evidence whatever in respect of any act done by him, if at any time previously to his being charged with such offence he has first disclosed such act on oath, in consequence of any compulsory process of any court of law or equity in any action, 'suit, or proceeding which has been bona fide instituted by any person aggrieved.
(3) In any proceedings in respect of any offence against sections six, seven subsection (1), twenty, twenty-one, and twenty-two of this Act, a statement or admission made by any person in any compulsory examination or deposition before any court on the hearing of any matter in bankruptcy shall not be admissible in evidence against that person.
(1) If on the trial of any indictment for robbery, it is proved that the defendant committed an assault with intent to rob, the jury may acquit the defendant of robbery and find him guilty of an assault with intent to rob, and thereupon he shall be liable to be punished accordingly.
(2) If on the trial of any indictment for any offence against section seventeen of this Act (relating to embezzlement) it is proved that the defendant stole the property in question, the jury may find him guilty of stealing, and thereupon he shall be liable to be punished accordingly; and on the trial of any indictment for stealing the jury may in like manner find the defendant guilty of embezzlement or of fraudulent application or disposition, as the case may be, and thereupon he shall be liable to be punished accordingly.
(3) If on the trial of any indictment for stealing it is proved that the defendant took any chattel, money, or valuable security in question in any such manner as would amount in law to obtaining it by false pretences, with intent to defraud, the jury may acquit the defendant of stealing and find him guilty of obtaining the chattel, money, or valuable security by false pretences, and thereupon he shall be liable to be punished accordingly.
(4) If on the trial of any indictment for obtaining any chattel, money, or valuable security by false pretences it is proved that the defendant stole the property in question, he shall not by reason thereof be entitled to be acquitted of obtaining such property by false pretences.
(5) If on the trial of any two or more persons indicted for jointly receiving any property it is proved that one or more of such persons separately received any part of such property, the jury may convict upon such indictment such of the said persons as are proved to have received any part of such property.
(1) If any person guilty of any such felony or misdemeanour as is mentioned in this Act, in stealing, taking, obtaining, extorting, embezzling, converting, or disposing of, or in knowingly receiving, any property, is prosecuted to conviction by or on behalf of the owner of such property, the property shall be restored to the owner or his representative.
(2) In every case in this section referred to the court before whom such offender is convicted shall have power to award from time to time writs of restitution for the said property or to order the restitution thereof in a summary manner :
Provided that where goods as defined in the Sale of Goods Act, 1893, have been obtained by fraud or other wrongful means not amounting to stealing, the property in such goods shall not re-vest in the person who was the owner of the goods or his personal representative, by reason only of the conviction of the offender :
And provided that nothing in this section shall apply to the case of—
(a) any valuable security which has been in good faith paid or discharged by some person or body corporate liable to the payment thereof, or, being a negotiable instrument, has been in good faith taken or received by transfer or delivery by some person or body corporate for a just and valuable consideration without any notice or without any reasonable cause to suspect that the same had been stolen ;
(b) Any offence against sections twenty, twenty-one, and twenty-two of this Act.
(3) On the restitution of any stolen property if it appears to the court by the evidence that the offender has sold the stolen property to any person, and that such person has had no knowledge that the same was stolen, and that any moneys have been taken from the offender on his apprehension, the court may, on the application of such purchaser, order that out of such moneys a sum not exceeding the amount of the proceeds of such sale be delivered to the said purchaser.
(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
The expression " chief officer of police " means—
In the city of London, the Commissioner of City Police;
In the Metropolitan Police District, the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis ;
In any other police district in England, the officer having the chief command of the police in such police district;
In the police district of Dublin Metropolis, either of the commissioners of police for the said district ;
In any other police district in Ireland, the sub-inspector of the Royal Irish Constabulary ;
and shall include any person authorised by such said chief officer of police to act in his behalf:
The expression " document of title to goods " includes any bill of lading, India warrant, dock warrant, warehouse-keeper's certificate, wan-ant or order for the delivery or transfer of any goods or valuable thing, bought or sold note, or any other document used in the ordinary course of business as proof of the possession or control of goods, or authorising or purporting to authorise, either by endorsement or by delivery, the possessor of such document to transfer or receive any goods thereby represented or therein mentioned or referred to :
The expression " document of title to lands " includes any deed, map, roll, register, paper, or parchment, written or printed, or partly written and partly printed, being or containing evidence of the title, or any part of the title, to any real estate or to any interest in or out of any real estate :
The expressions " mail, " " mail bag, '' " officer of the Post Office, " " postal packet, " " post office, " and " in course of transmission by post, " shall have the same meanings in this Act as in the Post Office Act, 1908:
The expression " night '' means the interval between nine o'clock in the evening and six o'clock in the morning of the next succeeding day :
The expression " property " includes any description of real and personal property, money, debts, and legacies, and all deeds and instruments relating to or evidencing the title or right to any property, or giving a right to recover or receive any money or goods, and also includes not only such property as has been originally in the possession or under the control of any person, but also any property into or for which the same has been converted or exchanged, and anything acquired by such conversion or exchange, whether immediately or otherwise :
The expression " trustee " means a trustee on some express trust created by some deed, will, or instrument in writing, and includes the heir or personal representative of any such trustee, and any other person upon or to whom the duty of such trust shall have devolved or come, and also an executor and administrator, and an official receiver, assignee, liquidator, or other like officer acting under any present or future Act relating to joint stock companies or bankruptcy :
The expression " valuable security " includes any writing entitling or evidencing the title of any person to any share or interest in any public stock, annuity, fund, or debt of any part of His Majesty's Dominions, or of any foreign state, or in any stock, annuity, fund, or debt of any body corporate, company, or society, whether within or without His Majesty's Dominions, or to any deposit in any bank, and also includes any scrip, debenture, bill, note, warrant, order, or other security for payment of money, or any accountable receipt, release, or discharge, or any receipt or other instrument evidencing the payment of money, or the delivery of any chattel personal, and any document of title to lands or goods as hereinbefore defined.
(2) The expression " dwelling-house" does not include a building although within the same curtilage with any dwellinghouse and occupied therewith unless there is a communication between such building and dwelling-house, either immediate or by means of a covered and enclosed passage leading from one to the other.
(3) References in this Act to any Act in force at the commencement of this Act shall be held to include a reference to that Act as amended, extended, or applied by any other Act.
(1) Where, by virtue of some other Act, an offence against this Act subjects the offender to any forfeiture or disqualification, or to any penalty other than penal servitude or fine, the liability of the offender to punishment under this Act shall be in addition to and not in substitution for his liability under such other Act.
(2) Where an offence against this Act is by any other Act, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Act, made punishable on summary conviction, proceedings may be taken either under such other Act or under this Act: Provided that where such an offence was at the commencement of this Act punishable only on summary conviction, it shall remain only so punishable.
(1) The enactments specified in the Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed as to England and Ireland to the extent specified in the third column thereof.
(2) For the purposes of the First Schedule to the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879, the first subsection of the thirty-third section of this Act shall be substituted for the ninety-first and ninety-fifth sections of the Larceny Act, 1861.
Section 48(1).
Session and Chapter. | Title or Short Title. | Extent of Repeal.
33 Hen. 8. c.12. | — | Section thirteen.
6 & 7 Vict. c. 96. | The Libel Act, 1843. | Section three.
14 & 15 Vict. c. 100. | The Criminal Procedure Act, 1851. | In section five, so far as it relates to Ireland, the words " stealing, " embezzling," and the words " or for obtaining by false pretences."
Section eighteen, from the words " and in cases " to the end of the section.
17 & 18 Vict. c. 112. | The Literary and Scientific Institutions Act, 1854. | In section twenty-six, from "steal" to "chattels of the " institution, or."
23 & 24 Vict. c. 16. | The Municipal Corporation Mortgages, &c. Act, 1860. | Section seven.
24 & 25 Vict. c. 96. | The Larceny Act, 1861. | In section one, from " the term " 'trustee'" to "bankruptcy " or insolvency " ; and from " for the purposes of this Act, " the night" to " succeeding " day."
Sections two to eleven, both inclusive.
In section eighteen, from " and " whosoever" to the end of the section.
In section nineteen, from "and " whosoever " to the end of the section.
Section twenty.
In section twenty-six, from the beginning of the section to " simple larceny and."
In section twenty - seven, the words " shall steal, or."
In section twenty - eight, the words " shall steal, or."
In section twenty-nine, the words, " steal or."
In section thirty, the words " shall steal or."
Sections thirty-one and thirty-two.
In section thirty - three, from " and whosoever having been " twice convicted " to the end of the section.
In section thirty-six, from " and " whosoever " to the end of the section.
Section thirty-eight.
Sections forty to sixty-four, both inclusive.
Sections sixty-seven to seventy-four, both inclusive.
Sections seventy-seven to eighty-one, both inclusive.
Sections eighty-eight to ninety-six, both inclusive.
In section ninety-eight, the words " except only a receiver of stolen " property."
Sections one hundred and One hundred and one.
Section one hundred and fourteen.
30 & 31 Vict. c. 35. | The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1867. | In section nine, the words "either" and the words "or " otherwise."
31 & 32 Vict. c. 116. | The Larceny Act, 1868. | Section one.
34 & 35 Vict. c. 112. | The Prevention of Crimes Act, 1871. | Sections sixteen and nineteen.
39 & 40 Vict. c. 20. | The Statute Law Revision (Substituted Enactments)Act, 1876. | Section three.
45 & 46 Vict. c. 50. | The Municipal Corporations Act. 1882. | Section one hundred and seventeen.
45 & 46 Vict. c. 56. | The Electric Lighting Act, 1882. | Section twenty-three.
59 & 60 Vict. c. 52. | The Larceny Act, 1896. | The whole Act.
59 & 60 Vict. c. 57. | The Burglary Act, 1896. | The whole Act.
1 Edw. 7. c. 10 | The Larceny Act, 1901. | The whole Act.
4 & 5 Geo. 5. c. 58. | The Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1914. | Section thirty-five.
Section thirty-nine, subsection two.
The Third Schedule.