Most people have a good idea of what they would consider to be criminal damage. However, it doesn’t take much exploration to find discover that this offence may not be as straightforward as one first thought. For example, some may not know that technically speaking criminal damage is an “either way” offence, in other words it can be dealt with in either the magistrates’ court or Crown court. However, if the magistrates determine that the value of damage is under £5,000, it is treated as a “summary only offence” and will remain in the lower court.
In its simple form, i.e. not, for example, racially or religiously aggravated, the maximum sentence for criminal damage is 3 months’ imprisonment in the magistrates’ court, and up to 10 years’ imprisonment in the Crown court.
Sentencing is not the only potentially tricky aspect of criminal damage, because it is an offence that can be committed either intentionally (for example, throwing a stone through someone’s window), or recklessly (for example, by skimming a stone across a canal, but close to a narrow boat which the stone hits and damages). In law, criminal damage has a very wide interpretation. It includes acts such as spraying graffiti on a wall, setting fire to a fence or dumping waste. The damage may not even be obvious to the most people, for example criminal damage can be caused by writing “clean me” on someone else’s car to show how dirty it is, because the owner of the vehicle would incur the expense of washing the car to get rid of the writing!
All offences of criminal damage share the following elements in common:
- Damage is caused (permanent or temporary)
- The damage (or destruction) occurred to property that belonged to another
- The offender had no lawful excuse for causing the damage
- The offender caused the damage either intentionally or recklessly
Under section 5 Criminal Damage Act 1971 there is a defence of “lawful excuse” to a charge of criminal damage under the following circumstances:
- The person believed they had the consent, or would have had the consent of the owner to damage the property, or
- The property was damaged in order to protect property belonging to yourself or another
This last point benefits from an everyday example for it to make sense: firefighters may cause significant damage to a building by water damage when using a hose at a house fire, however, those firefighters are doing this to prevent more extensive fire damage, which may lead to the whole building collapsing. They have a defence to criminal damage under this section of the Act.
So, although it may seem straightforward, if you are accused of criminal damage, please get in touch and take advantage of the free, no obligation advice we offer. We would warmly welcome an enquiry via our Contact page or call us free of charge on 0333 200 8581. We pride ourselves in getting back to all enquirers promptly.
Under section 5 Criminal Damage Act 1971 there is a defence of “lawful excuse” to a charge of criminal damage under the following circumstances:
- The person believed they had the consent, or would have had the consent of the owner to damage the property, or
- The property was damaged in order to protect property belonging to yourself or another
This last point benefits from an everyday example for it to make sense: firefighters may cause significant damage to a building by water damage when using a hose at a house fire, however, those firefighters are doing this to prevent more extensive fire damage, which may lead to the whole building collapsing. They have a defence to criminal damage under this section of the Act.
So, although it may seem straightforward, if you are accused of criminal damage, please get in touch and take advantage of the free, no obligation advice we offer.
