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Theft and dishonesty offences are commonly those involving situations where a person intentionally removes or otherwise takes possession or control of another person’s property without consideration or permission. The stealing must be a deliberate act. It cannot be committed by accident. A person must therefore act “dishonestly” in order to be guilty of an offence.
A wide range of offences require a court to make a finding of dishonesty. Dishonesty has a particular legal meaning It is a two stage test If a person is accused of being dishonest, the first question is “would a reasonable and honest person describe the action as dishonest?” If the answer is yes, then the next question is “must the accused person have realised that what he was doing was dishonest by those standards?” If the answer to both of these questions is yes, then the dishonesty element of the offence is proven. Depending on the offence, there are other ingredients that must be proved before a person can be found guilty.
Theft and dishonesty offences are some of the most common offences and are generally covered by the Theft Act 1968. They can be tried in the Magistrates’ or the Crown Court. Offences include:
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Any conviction for a dishonesty offence can have a serious impact on your future and may put you at risk of a prison sentence. It can also have serious implications for professionals in terms of professional standards regulatory bodies and serious consequences for somebody who is employed. This means that it is important for you to have the very best representation to ensure that you have strong and dependable and well –informed legal advice.
Hodge Jones and Allen are vastly experienced with decades of experience and expertise in specialist areas. From the earliest stage of proceedings our 24 hour police station team is staffed by experienced and highly trained representatives.
Our case workers and advocates operate regularly in the Magistrates’ and Crown Court, as well as the Court of Appeal. We have dealt with the most serious of dishonesty offences involving large scale conspiracies to and offences involving adults and youth.
As well as our own highly skilled and experienced lawyers, through 40 years, we have built up a network of working with the very best forensic experts. We instruct instruct telephone experts for cwell ite Analysis (the means of establishing the geographical location of a mobile phone when calls, SMS messages or data is sent or received) or closed circuit television (CCTV) evidence, which is commonly used in the prosecution of many dishonesty offences.
We never forget the most important person in criminal proceedings is the client. We work with you to present your case in the most effective and persuasive way possible.
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Youth charged with robbery with three others. Trial in the youth court. Issues were joint enterprise and Identification. Defendant acquitted at trial. Was of previous good character at time of the offence.
Defendant charged with conspiracy to commit robbery. It was alleged he disguised his car as an unmarked police car with “police blue lights”, pulled over the victim pretending to be a police officer and robbed him of a £20k Rolex watch. Prosecution offered no evidence after legal argument in the crown court.
Defendant was director of a charity which was alleged to have been paid over £200k in gift aid. HMRC position was funds were due back immediately. Defendant alleges the payment was subject to a legitimate agreement.
Conspiracy to handle stolen goods worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Case dismissed after legal submissions.
Our top ranking team have years of experience representing the innocent. We stand up to the prosecution who will always be represented by an experienced solicitor or barrister. We know how to fight and win cases.
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