Theft Act 1968

The Theft Act 1968 (c. 60) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of offences against property in England and Wales.

On 15 January 2007 the Fraud Act 2006 came into force, redefining most of the offences of deception.

The act resulted from the efforts of the Criminal Law Revision Committee to reform the English law of theft. The Larceny Act 1916 (6 & 7 Geo. 5. c. 50) had codified the common law, including larceny itself, but it remained a complex web of offences. The intention of the Theft Act 1968 was to replace the existing law of larceny and other deception-related offences, by a single enactment, creating a more coherent body of principles that would allow the law to evolve to meet new situations.

A number of greatly simplified – or at least less complicated – offences were created.

This section creates the offence of theft. This definition is supplemented by sections 2 to 6. The definition of theft under the Theft Act 1968 is:

A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it; and "thief" and "steal" shall be construed accordingly.

Subsection (1) states situations in which appropriation will not be dishonest.

Subsection (2) specifies that appropriation may be dishonest even if the accused is willing to pay.