Understanding Burglary

Definitions

Statutory definition

THEFT ACT 1968 SECTION 9(1,2)

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 subsection (2) below; or

b)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.

Sub section 2

The offences referred to in sub section(1) (a) above are offences of stealing anything in the building or part of a building in question, of inflicting on any person therein any grievous bodily harm or raping any person therein, and of doing unlawful damage to the building or anything therein.

The British Crime Survey definition of Domestic burglary comprises the following:

• Burglary with entry – incidents in which the offender entered the dwelling as a trespasser with the intention of committing theft, rape, grievous bodily harm or unlawful damage. To be classified as burglary with entry the offender must have entered the property but need not have carried out his/her intention.

• Attempted burglary – incidents in which there is clear evidence that the offender tried to enter the dwelling as a trespasser but failed. Burglary does not necessarily entail the theft, or attempted theft, of property, or involve forced entry (it may be through an open window or involve the use of false pretences). Those burglaries with entry which involve the theft of items are referred to as burglaries with loss.

Burglary is a term covering a range of offences characterised by the type of property attacked and the modus operandi.

Properties include domestic dwelling, inhabited vehicles, inhabited vessels,e,g barges,and multi occupancy dwellings such as flats, hotels, student blocks etc

It helps to remember that the offence carries a life sentence for aggravated burglary, fourteen years on indictment and for summary offences, six months.

In Common law doctrine it is presumed that any unlawful action on premises by a trespasser amounts to burglary. In general for a charge of burglary to be maintained it has to be shown that there was ulterior intent, or that the suspect has went beyond any legitimate reason for their presence in the dwelling, and acted in an illegal manner

As the case of R vs Collins 1973 demonstrated however, there must be a ‘effective and substantial’ deliberate entry for any offence to have been committee, this need not involve a physical action.

A person is guilty of aggravated burglary if they have with them any weapon of offence.

Distraction Burglary, often called ‘bogus callers or’ burglary artifice’ is a crime primarily targeted at vulnerable older people. Offenders pose as officials(including council, police and utility workers) in order to gain access to homes. Once inside the victim is distracted and the burglary is committed.

In1999 there were 16,000 recorded offences of distraction burglary but it is likely to be 5 times higher. Victims often don’t realise they have been burgled for some time and they feel shame at admitting they have trusted someone enough to let them into their home. There are also differences in reporting and recording practices

The average age of victims is 81 and 60% are female, with the majority living alone. The crime has a devastating effect on victims.

Offenders are highly organised although violence is rarely used.

The Government has established a Distraction Burglary Steering Group comprising a wide range of agencies and a number of pilot projects are underway.

Burglary is mostly a crime of theft of property. Some of the elements involved include;

• identification;

• intrinsic value;

• ease of transport,

• ease of exchange,

• the growth of high tec items,

• the high demand for stolen goods.

One of the more significant factors in burglaries is drug offending which often acts as a motivation to offenders. Consequently this toolkit must be considered alongside the toolkit on Drug-related crime.

Impact

The BCS found that ,in the majority of burglaries, the respondent was emotionally affected by the incident. As one would expect, victims were more affected if the burglar had actually gained entry to the home with almost four in ten victims of burglary with entry saying they had been very much affected.

The most common reaction was anger. In 68% of all incidents the respondent felt angry. Shock, fear and difficulty sleeping were also fairly common experiences.