No. 1.-2 Vic. ch. 5. CLASS IV. LARCENY. An Act for consolidating and amending the No. 1. Laws relative to Larceny and other Offences connected therewith. Act 2 Vic. (Assented to 10th December, 1838.) c. 5. I. That this Act shall commence on the tenth day of December, Commencein the present year of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and ment of this thirty-eight. Act. II. That the distinction between grand larceny and petit larceny Distinction beshall be abolished, and every larceny, whatever be the value of the tween Grand property stolen, shall be deemed to be of the same nature, and shall and Petit Larbe subject to the same incidents in all respects as grand larceny ceny abolished. was before the commencement of this Act. III. That every person convicted of simple larceny, or of any Punishment felony hereby made punishable like simple larceny, shall (except in for simple Larthe cases hereinafter otherwise provided for) be liable, at the dis- ceny or Felony made punishcretion of the Court, to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding able by this four years, and if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice, publicly or privately whipped, if the Court shall so think fit, in addition to such imprisonment. Act. Place and mode of imprisonment for Felony or misdemeanours punishable IV. Ând with regard to the place and mode of imprisonment for all indictable offences punishable under this Act; Be it, &c., That where any person shall be convicted of any felony or misdemeanour punishable under this Act, for which imprisonment may be awarded, it shall be lawful for the Court to sentence the offender under this to be imprisoned, or to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour Act. within or without the walls of the common gaol or house of correction, and also to direct that the offender shall be kept in solitary confinement for the whole, or any portion or portions of such imprisonment, with hard labour, as to the Court, in its discretion, shall seem meet. V. That if any person shall steal any tally, order, or other security whatsover, entitling or evidencing the title of any person or body corporate, to any share or interest in any public loan, stock, or fund, whether of the United Kingdom, or any part of it, or of this or any other of Her Majesty's colonial possessions, or of any foreign state, colony, or possession, or in any fund of any body corporate, company, or society, or to any deposit in any savings' or other bank or banks, or shall steal any debenture, deed, bond, bill, note, warrant, order, or other security whatsoever, for money, or for payment of money, or shall steal any warrant or order for the delivery or transfer of any goods or valuable thing, every such offender shall be deemed guilty of felony, of the same nature, and in the same degree, and punishable in the same manner, as if he had stolen any chattel of like value with the share, interest, or deposit to which the security so stolen may relate, or with the money due on the security so stolen or secured thereby, and remaining unsatisfied, or with the value of the goods or other valuable thing mentioned in the warrant or order; and each of the several documents hereinbefore enumerated shall, throughout this Act, be deemed, for every purpose to be included under, and denoted by, the words valuable security. Punishment other security, &c. Or any debenture, deed, bond, bill, note, warrant, order, &c. No. 1. Act 2 Vic. c. 5. Punishment for demanding money, &c., by thereto, or who Buggery denominated an infamous crime. Sacrilege, how punished. Burglary, how punished. Punishment for entering a dwelling-house and stealing therefrom to the amount of £5. VI. & VII. Repealed by 4 Victoria, ch. 27. VIII. That if any person shall, knowingly, send or deliver any letter or writing, demanding of any person with menaces, and without any reasonable or probable cause, any chattel, money, or valuable security, or if any person shall accuse, or threaten to accuse, or shall knowingly send or deliver any letter or writing accusing, or threatening to accuse, any person of any crime, punishable by law with death, transportation, or pillory, or of any assault, with intent to commit any rape, or of any attempt or endeavour to commit any rape, or of any infamous crime, as hereinafter defined, with a view or intent to extort or gain from such person any chattel, money, or valuable security, every such offender shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four years; and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice, publicly or privately whipped, if the Court shall so think fit, in addition to such imprisonment. IX. And for defining what shall be an infamous crime, within the meaning of this Act; Be it, &c., That the abominable crime of buggery committed either with mankind or with beast, and every assault, with intent to commit the said abominable crime, and every attempt or endeavour to commit the said abominable crime and every solicitation, persuasion, promise, or threat offered or made to any person whereby to move or induce such person to commit or permit the said abominable crime, shall be deemed to be an infamous crime within the meaning of this Act. X. That if any person shall break and enter any church or chapel, or any chapel used for the religious worship of persons dissenting from the United Church of England and Ireland, and steal therein any chattel, or having stolen any chattel in any church or chapel, shall break out of the same, every such offender being convicted thereof, shall suffer death as a felon. XI. That every person convicted of burglary shall suffer death as a felon;* And, &c., That if any person shall enter the dwellinghouse of another, with intent to commit felony, or being in such dwelling-house shall commit felony, and shall, in either case, break out of the said dwelling-house, in the night-time, such person shall be deemed guilty of burglary. XII. That if any person shall break and enter any dwellinghouse, and steal therein any chattel, money, or valuable security, to any value whatever, or shall steal any such property to any value whatever in any dwelling-house, any person therein being put in fear, or shall steal in any dwelling-house any chattel, money, or valuable security to the value, in the whole, of five pounds,† or more, lawful sterling money, every such offender shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four years, and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice, publicly or privately whipped, if the Court shall so think fit, in addition to such imprisonment." *So much of this section as relates to the punishment of any person convicted of Burglary, is repealed by 4 Vic. c. 27, post, No. of this Class. † By 7 Vic. c. 16, it is declared that all sums in this Act shall represent British sterling money. No. 1. Act 2 Vic. c. 5. XIII. That no building, although within the same curtilage with the dwelling-house, and occupied therewith, shall be deemed to be part of such dwelling-house for the purpose of burglary, or for any of the purposes aforesaid, unless there shall be a communi- What deemed cation between such building and dwelling-house, either immediate, part of a dwellor by means of a covered and enclosed passage leading from the ing house, for one to the other. the purpose of Burglary. XIV. That if any person shall break and enter any building, Burglary, and steal therein any chattel, money, or valuable security, such house-breakbuilding being within the curtilage of a dwelling-house, and occuing, &c., how pied therewith, but not being part thereof, according to the provision herein before mentioned, every such offender being convicted thereof, either upon an indictment for the same offence, or upon an indictment for burglary, house-breaking, or stealing to the value of five pounds, lawful money as aforesaid, in a dwelling-house, containing a separate count for such offence, shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four years, and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped, if the Court shall so think fit, in addition to such imprisonment. punished. Punishment for stealing XV. That if any person shall break and enter any shop, ware- Punishment house, counting-house, cellar, or office, and steal therein any chattel, for stealing money, or valuable security, every such offender being convicted from any shop, warehouse, &c. thereof, shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding four years, and in addition thereto at the discretion of the Court, to transportation for any term of years, or for life, to any penal settlement within the colony, or to any place out of the limits thereof. XVI. That if any person shall steal any money, goods, or merchandise, in any vessel, barge, or boat of any description whatever, in any port of entry or discharge, or in any creek, roadstead, or anchoring place belonging to or communicating with any such port, or shall steal any money, goods, or merchandise, from any wharf or quay adjacent to any such port or creek, every such offender being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding four years, and if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice, publicly or privately whipped, if the Court shall so think fit, in addition to such imprisonment. Sections XVII., XVIII., XIX., and XX. repealed by Ord. No. 6 of 1860. from any barge or boat, &c. XXI. That if any person shall steal, or shall for any fraudulent Punishment purpose take from its place of deposit for the time being, or from for stealing or any person having the lawful custody thereof, or shall unlawfully destroying any Record, &c. and maliciously obliterate, injure, or destroy any record, writ, return, panel, process, interrogatory, deposition, affidavit, rule, order, or warrant of attorney, or any original document whatsoever, of, or belonging to any Court or office of record, or relating to any matter, civil or criminal, begun, depending, or terminated in any such Court, or any bill, answer, interrogatory, deposition, affidavit, order, or decree, or any original document whatsoever, of, or belonging to any Court of Equity, or relating to any cause or matter begun, depending or terminated in any such Court, every such offender shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted thereof shall be liable at the discretion of the Court, to suffer such punishment by fine or imprisonment, or by both, as the Court shall award : No. 1. Act 2 Vic. c. 5. Proviso. Punishment for stealing or destroying any Will or Codicil before or after death of testator or testatrix. Punishment for stealing any parchment, paper, &c. This Act not to lessen or im peach any previous remedy at law. No conviction to be received in evidence. Provided such fine do not exceed fifty pounds sterling, and the imprisonment two years; and it shall not be necessary in any indictment for such offence to allege that the articles in respect of which the offence is committed is the property of any person, or that the same is of any value. XXII. That if any person shall, either during the life of the testator or testatrix, or after his or her death, steal, or for any fraudulent purpose destroy, or conceal any will, codicil, or other testamentary instrument, whether the same shall relate to real or personal estate, or to both, every such offender shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable to any of the punishments which the Court may award, as hereinbefore last mentioned; and it shall not, in any indictment for such offence, be necessary to allege that such will, codicil, or other instrument, is the property of any person, or that the same is of any value. XXIII. That if any person shall steal, or shall, for any fraudulent purpose, take from its place of deposit, or from any person having the lawful custody thereof, any paper or parchment, written or printed, or partly written and partly printed, being evidence of the title, or any part of the title, to any real estate, or shall unlawfully and maliciously obliterate, injure, or destroy, the record thereof, every such offender shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable to any of the punishments which the Court may award, as herein before last mentioned: and, in any indictment for such offence, it shall be sufficient to allege the thing stolen, taken, obliterated, injured, or destroyed, to be evidence of the title, or part of the title, of the person, or some one of the persons, having a present interest, whether legal or equitable, in the real estate to which the same relates, and to mention such real estate, or some part thereof: and it shall not be necessary to allege the thing in respect of which the offence is committed, to be of any value. XXIV. That nothing in this Act contained relative to either of the misdemeanours aforesaid, nor any proceeding, conviction, or judgment to be had or taken thereupon, shall prevent, lessen, or impeach, any remedy at law, or in equity, which any party aggrieved by any such offence might, or would have had, if this Act had not been passed; but, nevertheless, the conviction of any such offender shall not be received in evidence, in any action at law, or suit in equity, against him; and no person shall be liable to be convicted of either of the misdemeanours aforesaid, by any evidence whatever, in respect of any act done by him, if he shall, by compulsory at any time previously to his being indicted for such offence, have disclosed such act on oath, in consequence of any compulsory process of any Court of law of equity, in any action, suit, or proceeding which shall have been bonâ fide instituted by any party aggrieved. Evidence on oath obtained process pre vious to in dictment not admissible. Punishment for stealing any horse, mare, gelding, &c. XXV. That if any person shall steal any horse, mare, gelding, colt, or filly, or any bull, cow, heifer, or calf, or any ram, ewe, sheep, or lamb, mule or ass, or any swine, or shall wilfully kill any such animal or cattle, with intent to steal the carcass or skin, or any part of the animal or cattle so killed, every such offender shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years; and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice, publicly or privately whipped, if the Court shall so think fit, in addition to such imprison ment. XXVI. That if any person shall steal any dog, or shall steal any beast, or bird, ordinarily kept in a state of confinement, not being the subject of larceny at common law, every such offender being convicted thereof before two Justices of the Peace, shall, for the first offence, forfeit and pay over and above the value of the dog, beast, or bird, such sum of money, not exceeding twenty pounds, as to the Justices shall seem meet: and if any person so convicted shall afterwards be guilty of any of the said offences, and shall be convicted thereof, in like manner every such offender shall be committed to the common gaol or house of correction, there to be kept to hard labour for such time, not exceeding twelve calendar months, as the convicting Justices shall think fit; and they may further order the offender, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice, publicly or privately whipped, after the expiration of four days from the time of such conviction. XXVII. That if any dog, or any such beast, or the skin thereof, or any such bird, or any of the plumage thereof, shall be found in the possession or on the premises of any person, by virtue of a search warrant to be granted as hereinafter mentioned, the Justices, by whom such warrant was granted, may restore the same respectively, to the owner thereof; and the person in whose possession, or on whose premises the same shall be so found, such person knowing that the dog, beast, or bird has been stolen, or that the skin is the skin of a stolen dog, or beast; or that the plumage is the plumage of a stolen bird, shall, on conviction before two Justices of the Peace, be liable for the first offence to such forfeiture: and, for every subsequent offence, to such punishment as persons convicted of stealing any dog, beast, or bird, are hereinbefore made liable to. No. 1. Act 2 Vic. c. 5. Punishment Punishment for the unlawful possession of the skin of any beast, &c. house-dove or pigeon. XXVIII. That if any person shall unlawfully and wilfully kill, Punishment wound, or take, any house-dove or pigeon, under such circumstances for killing any as shall not amount to larceny at common law, except in the premises of the person killing the same, every such offender, being convicted thereof before two Justices of the Peace, shall forfeit and pay, over and above the value of the bird, any sum not exceeding two pounds. XXIX. That if any person shall unlawfully steal, or catch, kill, or injure with intent to steal, any turtle or fish, being in any pond or crawl, every such offender, being convicted thereof before two Justices of the Peace, shall, at the discretion of the Justices, either be committed to the common gaol or house of correction, there to be imprisoned only, or to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for any term not exceeding three calendar months: or else shall forfeit and pay, over and above the value of the turtle or fish so stolen, caught, killed, or injured, such sum of money not exceeding fifteen pounds lawful money, as aforesaid, as to such Justices shall seem meet and if any person, so convicted, shall afterwards commit any of the said offences, such offender shall be deemed guilty of felony, and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for any term not exceeding four years, at the discretion of the Court. Punishment for stealing or killing turtle or fish in any pond or crawl. XXX. That if any person shall at any time be found turtling, or Punishment fishing, against the provisions of this Act, it shall be lawful for the for turtling or |