Hall and Stott Publishing Ltd
27 Witney Close
Saltford
BS31 3DX
© Mark Thomas 2020
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder, application for which should be addressed to the publisher, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organisation.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
ISBN 978 1 916243 13 2
Typeset by Style Photosetting Ltd, Mayfield, East Sussex
It is amazing to think that three years ago, I was asked by Hall and Stott to produce a criminal law textbook. Whilst the text is only in its second edition, I am ever so humbled by the fantastic feedback it has received. This text continues to be constructed in a manner I feel will act in the most beneficial manner for its readers. It begins with a discussion of general principles of the criminal law before then proceeding into a detailed review of the most common subjects to feature on a criminal law syllabus, including the major fatal and non-fatal offences against the person and offences against property. Each chapter is designed to introduce readers to the subject matter under consideration and provide a detailed account of the applicable rules before then proceeding to evaluate and comment upon the state of the law. Each chapter features examples to assist readers in applying the law to factual scenarios and a helpful summary of how such rules apply in practice. Each chapter ends with a review of the law as it stands, two examination-style questions for readers to test their understanding, and a list of further reading to allow readers to consolidate their study.
The text is also accompanied by a companion website (www.hscriminallaw.co.uk) which features an online chapter dedicated to answering questions in criminal law, a glossary of legal terminology and an updates section which features new statutory, case law and academic developments in the criminal law. Since the first edition, readers will have experienced a multitude of updates, ranging from case notes, legislation updates and academic commentary. Readers can also follow me @MThomas_CrimLaw on Twitter for regular updates.
The new edition of this text has been fully updated to reflect the current state of the criminal law. Since 2018, the law has been faced with a number of new and fascinating developments. To give one example, in April 2020, we learnt that the case of Ivey v Genting Casinos (which was a new and ground breaking development for the 1st edition of this text) has now been approved by the criminal courts with no uncertainty or confusion (R v Barton; R v Booth [2020] EWCA Crim 575). Since the last edition, society has also been faced with a new threat; and the coronavirus pandemic continues to sweep the globe. Commentary on how the criminal law has adapted to take account of COVID-19 related offences is a further addition included in this already fully packed textbook. To ensure that the book retains an element of practical and contextual focus, the book has been updated to take account of the changes made to the Crown Court Compendium (updated July 2020).
I hope that this textbook continues to act as an authoritative and up-to-date source of information, and detail, for those dealing with the criminal law.
The law is generally stated as at 6 June 2020, although account has been taken of some later developments as at 2 August 2020.
Mark ThomasNottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University
CONTENTS
1 Introduction to the Criminal Law
1.4 The need for the criminal law?
1.5 Principles of criminal law
1.7 Criminal procedure, evidence and sentencing: an overview
1.8 Nature of criminal liability
2 Actus Reus: The External Element of Crime
2.1 Introduction to actus reus
2.4 Voluntary and positive conduct