Legal: Common offences and other potential charges
Information taken from - Criminal Code Act Compilation Act 1913 – Criminal Code – Western Australia
*this is from Western Australia. Look up information for relevant area*
70A. Trespass
(1) In this section — “person in authority”, in relation to a place, means — (a) in the case of a place owned by the Crown, or an agency or instrumentality of the Crown — the occupier or person having control or management of the place or a police officer; or (b) in any other case — (i) the owner, occupier or person having control or management of the place; or (ii) a police officer acting on a request by a person referred to in subparagraph (i); “police officer” means a person who holds an appointment under Part I, III or IIIA of the Police Act 1892, other than a police cadet; “trespass” on a place, means — (a) to enter or be in the place without the consent or licence of the owner, occupier or person having control or management of the place; (b) to remain in the place after being requested by a person in authority to leave the place; or (c) to remain in a part of the place after being requested by a person in authority to leave that part of the place.
(2) A person who, without lawful excuse, trespasses on a place is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for 12 months and a fine of $12 000.
(3) In a prosecution for an offence under subsection (2), the accused has the onus of proving that the accused had a lawful excuse.
[Section 70A inserted by No. 70 of 2004 s. 6.]
70B. Trespassers may be asked for name and address
(1) In this section — “enclosed land” means land that is visibly enclosed, whether by means of artificial structures alone or a combination of artificial structures and natural features, but does not include a road on the land that is open to or used by the public; “owner”, in relation to land, includes the occupier and a person who has the control or management of the land.
(2) If the owner of any enclosed land finds a person on the land who has entered the land without the owner’s consent, the owner may request the person to give the person’s name and address to the owner.
(3) A person who does not comply with such a request is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine of $500.
(4) A person who in response to such a request gives a name or address that is false is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine of $500.
[Section 70B inserted by No. 70 of 2004 s. 6.]
172. Obstructing public officers
(1) In this section — “obstruct” includes to prevent, to hinder and to resist.
(2) A person who obstructs a public officer, or a person lawfully assisting a public officer, in the performance of the officer’s functions is guilty of a crime and is liable to imprisonment for 3 years. Summary conviction penalty: imprisonment for 18 months and a fine of $18 000.
[Section 172 inserted by No. 70 of 2004 s. 16.]
294. Acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm or prevent arrest
Any person who, with intent to maim, disfigure, or disable any person, or to do some grievous bodily harm to any person, or to resist or prevent the lawful arrest or detention of any person — (1) Unlawfully wounds or does any grievous bodily harm to any person by any means whatever; or (2) Unlawfully attempts in any manner to strike any person with any kind of projectile; or (3) Unlawfully causes any explosive substance to explode; or (4) Sends or delivers any explosive substance or other dangerous or noxious thing to any person; or (5) Causes any such substance or thing to be taken or received by any person; or (6) Puts any corrosive fluid or any destructive or explosive substance in any place; or (7) Unlawfully casts or throws any such fluid or substance at or upon any person, or otherwise applies any such fluid or substance to the person of any person; or
(8) does any act that is likely to result in a person having a serious disease; is guilty of a crime, and is liable to imprisonment for 20 years. Alternative offence: s. 297, 304, 317 or 317A.
[Section 294 amended by No. 118 of 1981 s. 4; No. 51 of 1992 s. 5 and 16(2); No. 70 of 2004 s. 36(3).]
Criminal Damage
443. “Wilfully destroy or damage”, definition of
Where a person does an act or omits to do an act — (a) intending to destroy or damage property; or (b) knowing or believing that the act or omission is likely to result in the destruction of or damage to property, and the act or omission results in the destruction of or damage to property, the person is regarded for the purposes of this division as having wilfully destroyed or damaged property.
[Section 443 inserted by No. 101 of 1990 s. 34.]
Chapter XLVI — Offences
444. Criminal damage
Any person who wilfully and unlawfully destroys or damages any property is guilty of a crime and is liable — (a) if the property is destroyed or damaged by fire, to imprisonment for 14 years or, if the offence is committed in circumstances of racial aggravation, to imprisonment for 20 years; or (b) if the property is not destroyed or damaged by fire, to imprisonment for 10 years or, if the offence is committed in circumstances of racial aggravation, to imprisonment for 14 years. Alternative offence: s. 445. Summary conviction penalty: for an offence where — (a) the property is not destroyed or damaged by fire; and (b) the amount of the injury done does not exceed $25 000, imprisonment for 3 years and a fine of $36 000.
[Section 444 inserted by No. 4 of 2004 s. 37; amended by No. 70 of 2004 s. 35(4) and 36(3); No. 80 of 2004 s. 11.]
445. Damaging property
A person who unlawfully destroys or damages the property of another person without that other person’s consent is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for 12 months and a fine of $12,000.
[Section 445 inserted by No. 70 of 2004 s. 31.]
446. Costs of cleaning graffiti
(1) In this section — “offender” means a person who is guilty of an offence under section 444 or 445 where the damage consists of — (a) graffiti that are visible to the public; or (b) graffiti applied to public property; “public property” means property owned by, vested in, or under the control or management of — (a) the State; (b) the Crown, or an agent or instrumentality of the Crown; (c) a body corporate established by a written law; or (d) a local government or regional local government.
(2) A court convicting an offender may order the offender to pay to any person who has obliterated the graffiti, or caused it to be obliterated, a reasonable amount for doing so.
(3) Such an order is in addition to any penalty imposed for the offence and may be in addition to a compensation order made under Part 16 of the Sentencing Act 1995.
[Section 446 inserted by No. 70 of 2004 s. 31.]
Graffiti Vandalism Bill of 2015 - Costs of cleaning graffiti
graffiti means any drawing, writing, painting, symbol or mark applied to or marked on property by –
(a) spraying, writing, drawing, marking or otherwise applying paint or another marking substance; or
(b) scratching or etching;
owner, of land, means a person who is an owner of the land within the meaning given in the Local Government Act 1995 section 1.4
Clause 8 replaces section 446 of the Criminal Code, ‘Costs of cleaning graffiti’.
This clause provides that a Court that convicts a person of the offence of destroying,
damaging or defacing property by graffiti may order the offender to:
a) take remedial action to restore the property to the same state as it was in before the offence or to a state specified in the order; or
b) pay another person to take remedial action to restore the property to the same state as it was in before the offence or to a state specified in the order.
Clause 8 applies irrespective of whether or not the graffiti is visible to the public or is applied to public or private property. This is an extension of section 446 of the Criminal Code; section 446 only allowed for costs or remedial action to be ordered where graffiti is visible to the public or applied to public property. This clause will allow the Court to make appropriate remedial work orders against all graffiti offenders.
Possessing a thing with intent to apply graffiti
Subclause 1 creates an offence for possessing a thing with intent to damage, destroy or deface property by applying graffiti. This new offence is based on section 557G of the Criminal Code, ‘Possessing thing for applying graffiti’, which will be repealed by this Bill. The new offence carries the same maximum penalty of a fine of $6,000.
Subclause 2 replicates the ‘Presumption as to intent’ included at section 557A of the Criminal Code. Section 557A currently applies to section 557G ‘Possessing thing for applying graffiti’ offence. It is therefore appropriate the presumption is replicated in this Bill.
Clause 6/Page 3 of 12/Clause 7/Clause 8
In proceedings relating to the charge of possessing a thing with the intent to apply graffiti, a Court will presume that the person charged had the intention to use the thing to destroy, damage or deface property by applying graffiti, if the circumstances were sufficient for a police officer to form a reasonable suspicion that the person had that intention, and the contrary is not proved.
451. Obstructing and injuring railways
Any person who unlawfully, and with intent to obstruct the use of a railway or to injure any property upon a railway — (1) Deals with the railway or with anything whatever on or near the railway in such a manner as to endanger the free and safe use of the railway; or (2) Unlawfully shows any light or signal, or deals with any existing light or signal upon or near the railway; or (3) By any omission to do any act which it is his duty to do causes the free and safe use of the railway to be endangered; is guilty of a crime, and is liable to imprisonment for 20 years.
[Section 451 amended by No. 118 of 1981 s. 4; No. 51 of 1992 s. 16(2).]
462. Obstructing railways
Any person who, by any unlawful act, or by any intentional omission to do any act which it is his duty to do, causes any engine or vehicle in use upon a railway to be obstructed in its passage on the railway, is guilty of a crime, and is liable to imprisonment for 2 years.
[Section 462 amended by No. 51 of 1992 s. 16(2); No. 70 of 2004 s. 34(1).]
456. Attempts to injure mines
Any person who, with intent to injure a mine or to obstruct the working of a mine — (1) Unlawfully, and otherwise than by an act done underground in the course of working an adjoining mine, — (a) Causes water to run into the mine or into any subterranean passage communicating with the mine; or (b) Obstructs any shaft or passage of the mine; or (2) Unlawfully obstructs the working of any machine, appliance, or apparatus, appertaining to or used with the mine, whether the thing in question is completed or not; or (3) Unlawfully, and with intent to render it useless, injures or unfastens a rope, chain, or tackle, of whatever material which is used in the mine or upon any way or work appertaining to or used with the mine; is guilty of a crime, and is liable to imprisonment for 7 years.
[Section 456 amended by No. 51 of 1992 s. 16(2).]
461. Removing boundary marks
Any person who, wilfully and unlawfully and with intent to defraud, removes or defaces any object or mark which has been lawfully erected or made as an indication of the boundary of any land, is guilty of a crime, and is liable to imprisonment for 3 years.
[Section 461 amended by No. 51 of 1992 s. 16(2); No. 70 of 2004 s. 34(1).]
553. Incitement to commit indictable offences
(1) Any person who, intending that an indictable offence (the “principal offence”) be committed, incites another person to commit the principal offence, is guilty of a crime.
(2) A person guilty of a crime under subsection (1) is liable — (a) if the principal offence is punishable on indictment with imprisonment for life — to imprisonment for 14 years; (b) in any other case — to half of the penalty with which the principal offence is punishable on indictment. Summary conviction penalty: for an offence where the principal offence may be dealt with summarily, the lesser of — (a) the penalty with which the principal offence is punishable on summary conviction; or (b) the penalty that is half of the penalty with which the principal offence is punishable on indictment.
(3) The summary conviction penalty in subsection (2) does not apply to an offence to which section 426 applies.
[Section 553 inserted by No. 4 of 2004 s. 40; amended by No. 70 of 2004 s. 34(4) and (5).]
401. Burglary
(1) A person who enters or is in the place of another person, without that other person’s consent, with intent to commit an offence in that place is guilty of a crime and is liable — (a) if the offence is committed in circumstances of aggravation, to imprisonment for 20 years; (b) if the place is ordinarily used for human habitation but the offence is not committed in circumstances of aggravation, to imprisonment for 18 years; or (c) in any other case, to imprisonment for 14 years. Summary conviction penalty: (a) in a case to which paragraph (a) applies where the only circumstance of aggravation is that the offender is in company with another person or other persons — imprisonment for 3 years and a fine of $36 000; (b) in a case to which paragraph (b) applies — imprisonment for 3 years and a fine of $36,000; or (c) in a case to which paragraph (c) applies — imprisonment for 2 years and a fine of $24,000.
(2) A person who commits an offence in the place of another person, when in that place without that other person’s consent, is guilty of a crime and is liable — (a) if the offence is committed in circumstances of aggravation, to imprisonment for 20 years; (b) if the place is ordinarily used for human habitation but the offence is not committed in circumstances of aggravation, to imprisonment for 18 years; or (c) in any other case, to imprisonment for 14 years. Summary conviction penalty (subject to subsection (3)): (a) in a case to which paragraph (a) applies where the only circumstance of aggravation is that the offender is in company with another person or other persons — imprisonment for 3 years and a fine of $36 000; (b) in a case to which paragraph (b) applies — imprisonment for 3 years and a fine of $36,000; or (c) in a case to which paragraph (c) applies — imprisonment for 2 years and a fine of $24,000. (3) If the offence committed in the place is an offence against property and the value of the property is more than $10,000 the offence is not to be dealt with summarily.
(4) If a person convicted of an offence against subsection (1) or (2) committed in respect of a place ordinarily used for human habitation was a repeat offender at the time of committing that offence, the court sentencing the person shall sentence the offender — (a) to at least 12 months imprisonment notwithstanding any other written law; or (b) if the offender is a young person (as defined in the Young Offenders Act 1994) either to at least 12 months imprisonment or to a term of at least 12 months detention (as defined in that Act), as the court thinks fit, notwithstanding section 46(5a) of that Act.
(5) A court shall not suspend a term of imprisonment imposed under subsection (4).
(6) Subsection (4)(b) does not prevent a court from making a direction under section 118(4) of the Young Offenders Act 1994 or a special order under Division 9 of Part 7 of that Act.
[Section 401 inserted by No. 60 of 1996 s. 5; amended by No. 4 of 2004 s. 66; No. 70 of 2004 s. 35(4).]
[402-404. Repealed by No. 37 of 1991 s. 13.]
[405, 406. Repealed by No. 1 of 1969 s. 7.]
407. Persons found armed, etc., with intent to commit crime
Any person who is found under any of the circumstances following, that is to say — (a) Being armed with any dangerous or offensive weapon or instrument, and being so armed with intent to enter a place, and to commit an offence therein;
[(b) deleted] (c) Having in his possession by night without lawful excuse, the proof of which lies on him, any instrument of housebreaking; (d) Having in his possession by day any such instrument with intent to commit an offence; or (e) Having his face masked or blackened or being otherwise disguised, with intent to commit an offence;
is guilty of a crime, and is liable to imprisonment for 3 years. Summary conviction penalty: imprisonment for 2 years and a fine of $24,000.
[Section 407 amended by No. 37 of 1991 s. 13(2); No. 51 of 1992 s. 16(2); No. 4 of 2004 s. 67; No. 70 of 2004 s. 35(2); No. 84 of 2004 s. 27(3).]
Road Traffic Act 1974
81F. Offences
(1) Where a person at, or in relation to, an event held on a road closed pursuant to an order under this Part — (a) obstructs the free passage of any ambulance, fire brigade vehicle or police vehicle or, otherwise than in the manner or to the extent authorised by the order relating to the road closed for that event, impedes or disrupts the use by members of the public in general of that road; or (b) otherwise than in the manner or to the extent authorised by the order relating to the road closed for that event, drives, takes or uses any vehicles on to or on that road; or (c) incites any other person so to do, commits an offence. Penalty: 12 PU. (2) Where, in any proceeding for an offence against subsection (1), it is alleged in the charge that — (a) an order had been granted under this Part to a person or body named in the order; or (b) a road was closed pursuant to an order, it shall not be necessary for the prosecutor to prove the facts so alleged in the absence of evidence to the contrary. (3) When in any proceedings for an offence against this Act or any other enactment regulating the movement of traffic or pedestrians or relating to the obstruction of a road, the accused satisfies the court that a road closure was authorised under this Part by an order purporting to relate to it, it shall be presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that — (a) no irregularity occurred on, or in relation to, the grant of the order; and (b) the road closure substantially conformed with the terms of the order. [Section 81F inserted: No. 64 of 1988 s. 4; amended: No. 50 of 1997 s. 13; No. 84 of 2004 s. 80 and 82.]
Activists blocking an intersection as pedestrians (sitting) have been previously charged with obstructing public officers and traffic infringements.