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Criminal Law (Amendment) (Protection of Property) Bill

I hope that we can examine that matter in Committee. My hon. Friend is right that most burglaries that were examined in the context of the Bill were not opportunistic, but well thought out and designed for a specific purpose. Let me move on to the definitions in the Bill. I paid tribute earlier to my hon. Friends the Members for North Thanet and for Newark. My Bill is different from their Bills, and especially the Bill that was introduced earlier this year by my hon. Friend the Member for Newark, because it would extend to all properties, both commercial properties and homes. It is interesting to note that the Bill enjoys the considerable support of members of the Federation of Small Businesses and members of the National Neighbourhood Watch Association. I was staggered to discover that Federation of Small Businesses statistics show that 58 per cent. of small firms are the victims of crime each year. I wanted to take account of excellent points made in the Standing Committee that considered the Bill of my hon. Friend the Member for Newark. It would be wrong to limit the Bill’s provisions purely and simply to homes, so I want to extend it to all properties, including commercial properties, such as shops and retail premises. As my hon. Friend the Member for Newark recognised, we want a threshold for when prosecutions should be brought. I thus argue that no prosecution should be brought against a person without the permission of the Attorney-General. In preparation for the Committee stage of the Bill introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for Newark, the flawed trawl of the Crown Prosecution Service found that there had been 26 cases in a 15-month period, of which 11 had been brought to prosecution. The measure in my Bill would dramatically limit future prosecutions. Clause 1 would amend the Criminal Law Act 1967. Proposed new section 3(1C) says:"““‘building or part of a building’ shall have the same meaning as in section 9 of the Theft Act 1968””." The Bill thus covers all buildings, homes, commercial vehicles and vessels. It is worth considering the provisions of the Theft Act 1968 because it makes the good point that the offence of burglary is a serious crime that involves not only a threat to property, but a threat to the privacy of one’s own home. That factor differentiates the offence from simple theft. Over time, the offence has been understood to cover a dwelling place and to encompass any building. Under the Theft Act, someone is guilty of burglary if"““he enters any building or part of a building as a trespasser and with intent to commit any offence””." They are also guilty if, having entered the building or part of it, they steal or attempt to steal anything in the building or inflict grievous bodily harm on anyone in the building. The Act includes in those offences the offences of"““stealing . . . of inflicting . . . grievous bodily harm or raping any woman . . . and of doing unlawful damage to the building or anything therein.””" References to ““a building”” in the Act also apply to vehicles and vessels.