Gog said:
I wonder if conversely the Theft Act would apply?
It would therefore be a criminal offence to keep the goods, although I suppose the obligation to make restoration could be argued.
I won't go into too much detail on the theft claim because it seems questionable to me. The section you quoted deals with one specific element of theft. As you probably know, you have to make out all of the elements before you can be guilty of theft.
So, you need to:
-appropriate
-property
-belonging to another
-dishonestly
-with an intention to permanently deprive
There is no major issue in establishing that the defendant appropriated property belonging to another with an intention to permanently deprive.
The problem is the dishonesty element. The defendant will almost certainly attempt to rely on s.2(1)(a) of the Theft Act 1968.
s.2(1) A person's appropriation of property belonging to another is not to be regarded as dishonest-
(a) if he appropriates the property in the belief that he has in law the right to deprive
Paraphrased: If the defendant believes that he or she is legally entitled to deal with the property, then there is no dishonesty. The belief does not have to be reasonable nor does it have to be based on an accurate understanding of the law (see
R v Small).
So, the defendant will simply argue that he believed he had the legal right to deal with the property because he thought the goods were unsolicited goods. Despite this being an inaccurate belief, he is entitled to rely upon it.
If the defendant can show that he was not dishonest, that will be the end of the criminal case. He will be acquitted.
Also bare in mind the time frame. The defendant allegedly sold the goods on Sunday and only on the next day did the OP inform him of the mistaken delivery. The defendant could use this to his favour to show that he was not dishonest. He could argue that he was unaware of the mistake at the time he sold the goods on Sunday.
So the theft claim seems questionable to me.
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