Acquisitive Crimes - Reset PDF (Lesson 5.3)

OFFICIAL Unit 4 Lesson 5.3...

OFFICIAL Unit 4 Lesson 5.3 Acquisitive Crimes - Reset Lesson Aim: The learner will be able to differentiate between different types of acquisitive crime Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of the lesson, Introduction students will be able to:- Reset is when something that has been dishonestly obtained is sold or passed on to 1. Describe the common law crime of reset someone else. Investigations into reset often discover that those involved, are part of organised crime and the profit made from selling stolen goods can go on to fund other significant criminal activity Resetting stolen property is not a victimless crime, often the items stolen are from someone’s home, or taken from commercial businesses who then make claims on their insurance, raising prices as a consequence. When carrying out investigations and searching, Police Officers must be alert to the possibility of discovering stolen property. Our investigations into acquisitive crime should extend beyond the locus and identification of any suspects, towards places of disposal for stolen property. 1 th Amended 25 April 2024 v.3 OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 4 Lesson 5.3 Acquisitive Crimes - Reset Definition of Reset “Reset is a crime at common law, committed by any person with the intent to deprive the owner, to receive and keep property, knowing that it had been appropriated by theft, robbery, embezzlement or fraud.” A person who has been involved in the original theft of the property cannot be convicted of reset. They would be charged with the original theft. Note:- A person who was charged with reset of a number of articles gave evidence, admitting theft of some of them. He was convicted of reset of them all. It was later held, on appeal, that a person, who had admitted to theft of articles, could not be guilty of resetting them and conviction quashed as regards the articles admittedly stolen. (Backhurst v. MacNaughton (1981) S.C.C.R.6). The Essential Elements for Reset To prove a charge of reset the prosecution must prove certain essential elements of this crime were present and they are as follows:- 1. Guilty Knowledge 2. Criminal Intent 3. Receipt of Property 4. Property Dishonestly Obtained 1. Guilty Knowledge It has to be proven that the accused knew the property in their possession had been stolen. Price/Rogues bargain Example:- £1,000 laptop computer sold in a public house for £40. Property recovered from place of concealment Example:- stolen motor cycle parts wrapped in bed linen and concealed in living room cupboards. 2 Scots Criminal Law: Introduction and Investigation OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 4 Lesson 5.3 Acquisitive Crimes - Reset Buffed off or removed serial numbers Example:- car engine serial number or electric goods serial numbers removed. Altered appearance Example:- mountain bike painted. Note:- It is worthy of note that the guilty knowledge need not be simultaneous with receipt of goods. A person who subsequently learns that property was dishonestly acquired but continues to keep it is guilty of reset. 2. Criminal Intent The whole essence of reset is the felonious intent to deprive the owner of possession of their property. The crime is complete as soon as the property has passed into the possession of the resetter, even although they retain it only for an instant. Activity 1 A1 Have a look at these items of stolen property from a break in to a house and garden shed at 21 Brookbank Place. Each of the items were recovered at different locations. Where do you think some of these locations may have been? Mobile Telephone 55” Television 50 Assorted Blu-rays and DVDs Jewellery Lawn Mower Mountain Bike 3 Scots Criminal Law: Introduction and Investigation OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 4 Lesson 5.3 Acquisitive Crimes - Reset Feedback 1 F1 The telephone was recovered from a person arrested for an Mobile Telephone assault at the Clansman public house. Under caution, he stated “I bought it for a fiver in the pub”. The television was recovered 55” Television when the reporting officer found it for sale at the local second hand dealer’s shop. The blue-rays and DVDs were recovered when an 50 Assorted Blu-rays advert on a social media marketplace was spotted by and DVDs the person reporting the initial theft. Recovered by police during the search of a house in Jewellery Burnside Way, where a local man was known to be handling stolen property. Found during a routine police patrol of a car boot sale. The Lawn Mower manufacturer identification serial number had been removed but was identified by specific marks painted on by the owner. Parts, including the frame, seat and handlebars, were Mountain Bike recovered when a local youth was stopped and interviewed regarding another matter. 4 Scots Criminal Law: Introduction and Investigation OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 4 Lesson 5.3 Acquisitive Crimes - Reset 3. Receipt of Property The resetter must have received the property but what does receipt of the property actually mean? It can involve:- simply handling stolen property; or having control of the property even though they don't have physical possession of it. Example:- John Fleming is a local resetter for stolen property. A female shoplifter offers him a tray of stolen gold rings for £30. Fleming buys the rings and tells her to ‘put them in the usual place’. The usual place being the boot of his car. 4. Property Dishonestly Obtained Your police investigation and subsequent report will determine whether or not a theft, robbery, embezzlement or fraud has taken place. This crime of dishonesty will thereafter be proven in a court of law. This action establishes that the property was stolen. Ideally from a police viewpoint, the best outcome would be that, if during your investigation you could detect the:- 1. Thief and the 2. Resetter However, to prove the crime of reset, it is not necessary that the thief responsible for the theft is prosecuted or even identified. Example:- A motor scooter valued at £800 is stolen and subsequently dismantled. Two weeks later police receive reliable information that Steven Duffus has parts of the scooter concealed within his home. A search warrant is granted and police search and recover many of the parts from the stolen scooter, wrapped in blankets within a living room cupboard at Duffus' home. Duffus is arrested under Section 1 Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 to allow further enquiry and, whilst being interviewed in the presence of his solicitor, states that he bought the items for £10 from a person in a pub but declines to identify this person. Duffus subsequently appeared at Sheriff Court where he pled guilty to reset and was fined £250. 5 Scots Criminal Law: Introduction and Investigation OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 4 Lesson 5.3 Acquisitive Crimes - Reset Example Charge EC “On 13th March 2020, at the Clansman Bar, St Claire Street, Brookbank, you SIMON MASON did receive and keep items knowing them to dishonestly appropriated by theft, robbery, embezzlement or fraud. Case Law A dealer in second hand clothes who purchased, from a soldier, a kilt knowing it to be Government property, was convicted of reset. In an appeal against conviction, it was argued that, in view of the remedies provided by the Army Act 1881, it could not be maintained that a soldier, in making away with part of his regimental equipment committed theft, or that a person purchasing such equipment was guilty of reset. It was held that the offence committed by the soldier, though it was an offence specially dealt with by the Army Act, was also theft, and that, therefore, the appellant was competently convicted of reset. (O’Brian v. Strathern, 59 S.L.R. 409) An accused was convicted of reset on evidence that he paid an abnormally low price for the goods and an inference that he really did not care whether they were honestly acquired or not. (Latta v Herron (1967) SCCR Supp 18) Exemptions The crime of reset does not extend to the receipt of the proceeds from the sale of stolen property. Evidence of Previous Convictions When a person is charged with resetting stolen property, evidence that a person has been found in possession of stolen property in the previous 12 months can be taken into consideration for the purpose of proving that the person knew the property was stolen. 6 Scots Criminal Law: Introduction and Investigation OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 4 Lesson 5.3 Acquisitive Crimes - Reset If a person is charged with reset, having been found in possession of stolen property, and has been convicted of an offence of fraud or dishonesty within the previous 5 years, this can be taken into consideration to prove the accused knew the property was stolen. The accused must be given at least 7 days’ notice in writing that it is intended to lead such evidence. The use of such evidence in relation to reset comes from s.19 of the Prevention of Crimes Act 1871. Police Powers Reset is a crime at common law, punishable by imprisonment, therefore consideration should be given to using your powers of arrest under Section 1 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016. In certain cases, it may be dealt with by Recorded Police Warning. 7 Scots Criminal Law: Introduction and Investigation OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 4 Lesson 5.3 Acquisitive Crimes - Reset For further information, use the resources shown below:- Open and Distance Learning: Reset Legal Database:- Criminal Law - Crimes against Property - Reset Review: You can describe the common law crime of reset Learning Log: How will what you have learned in this module impact your day-to- day role? Are there any skills or knowledge you would like to develop further following this module? End of Module 8 Scots Criminal Law: Introduction and Investigation OFFICIAL