Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Robbery definition

What does Robbery mean? In practice, robbery is theft committed by using force or threatening immediate force on a person in order to steal. In England & Wales and Northern Ireland (Theft Acts 1968/1969, s8) and in Ireland (Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001, s14), a person commits robbery if they steal and, immediately before or at the time and in order to do so, use force on any person or put or seek to put any person in fear of being then and there subjected to force. In Scotland, robbery is a common law crime: theft aggravated by personal violence or...

Robbery under the Theft Act 1968 (England and Wales): elements, force or threats, theft/dishonesty, and Sentencing Council guidelines

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Practice notes

This is a Theft offence under section 8 of the Theft Act 1968 (TA 1968), rooted in Dishonesty and further aggravated by the use of, or threats of, force. It is triable solely on Indictment in the Crown Court.

Elements of the offence of Robbery

An individual is guilty of robbery if:

they steal something; and
immediately before or at the time of doing so, and in order to do so, they:
- use force on any person; or
- put any person in fear of being subjected to force then and there

Force, or the threat of force, must occur ‘immediately before or at the time’ of the theft. There is no clear guidance on what ‘immediately before’ entails. If the force used or threatened is after the theft has taken place, robbery is not made out, although theft can be a continuing offence. See: R v Hale (1978) 68 Cr App Rep 415, [1979] Crim LR 596 (not reported by LexisNexis).

The use or threat of force must be ‘in order’ to carry out the theft. If the force is applied for any other reason, the offence is not committed...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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