Section 1 of the Theft Act 1968 states:

“A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it”.

The Prosecution must prove each of the five elements of the offence in order to convict the defendant.

The actus reus of theft is usually defined as an unauthorised taking, keeping or using of another's property which must be accompanied by a mens rea of dishonesty and/or the intent to permanently deprive the owner or the person with rightful possession of that property or its use.

At MTA Solicitors we shall test the strength of the prosecution case and check if the Crown are able to prove each of the five elements. If the prosecution case is weak, we shall make contact with the Crown Prosecution Service and ask that the proceedings be discontinued.

If the only option is to plead guilty, we will focus all our attention on mitigation and endeavour to obtain the lowest sentence possible. We shall put forward a plea of mitigation setting out the valid and convincing reasons as to why the court ought to view your case with some empathy, and take those reasons into account before sentencing you.

We shall obtain character references for you and put these before the court in advance of the hearing, laying the foundation for a positive result.

We shall keep you informed of every hearing date and arrange only the best representation for you. Though our experience we have carefully selected experts and barristers who have demonstrated they are the best in the field to defend such cases. As a result, MTA’s criminal defence team have achieved a high rate of success.