Thousands of Jamaicans are arrested, charged and brought before the courts every year on charges involving larceny. These charges range from simple larceny to some of the more serious larceny crimes such as demanding money with menace.

These several offences are outlined in the Larceny Act (hereinafter called "the Act"). This week, this column will focus on the simple larceny and will look briefly on the definition and penalty of this popular crime.

hard labour

The punishment for simple larceny is provided for at section 5 of the Act, which states: "Stealing for which no special punishment is provided under this or any other enactment for the time being in force shall be simple larceny and a felony punishable with imprisonment with hard labour for any term not exceeding five years."

A generally acceptable working definition of larceny is provided for at section 3 of the Act. It states that: "A person who steals, who without the consent of the owner, fraudulently and without a claim of right made in good faith, takes and carries away anything capable of being stolen with intent, at the time of such taking, permanently to deprive the owner thereof." Even where a person has lawful possession of an item as a bailee or part owner, he may still be guilty of stealing if he converts it to his own use or for the use of any other person except the owner.

troublesome issues

Some of the troublesome issues that come up in most simple larceny trials is whether the accused took the goods knowingly or by mistake, whether he took them under a claim of right or otherwise or whether he took them with an intention to return them to the owner. A person would have a claim of right if he asserts a lawful claim to the item allegedly stolen.

The intent to permanently deprive the owner must be formed at the same time as the taking away.

If you "take" and obtain possession by trick, intimidation, where the taker knows that the owner makes a mistake, by finding knowing that the owner could be ascertained by taking reasonable steps, then you could also be convicted for larceny.

Obviously, the best defence against this crime is to "leave it alone" even if you find it.

Keith N. Bishop is an Attorney-at-Law and partner in the firm of Bishop & Fullerton. He may be contacted by email at knb@bishopfullerton.com