Destroying or damaging property with intent to injure a person

Offence title:

Destroying or damaging property with intent to injure a person

Act:

196 Crimes Act (NSW)

Offence:

(1)   A person who destroys or damages property, intending by the destruction or damage to cause bodily injury to another, commits an offence.

(2)   A person who, during a public disorder, destroys or damages property, intending by the destruction or damage to cause bodily injury to another, commits and offence.

Penalty:

(1)   Imprisonment 7 years.

Imprisonment 14 years if the damage is caused by fire or explosives.

(2)   Imprisonment 9 years.

Imprisonment 16 years if the damage is caused by fire or explosives.

Summary/Indictable/mixed:

Mixed

Jurisdiction:

Local, District or Supreme Court.

How committed:

(1)   Person A is dumped by his girlfriend, so he cuts the brake lines on her car.

(2)   In the course of a protest march a fight breaks out with the police. While this is happening a group of protestors set fire to a police car with police officers inside.

Important note:

For property to be damaged, it must be tangible in nature.

Reference to property includes a reference to wild creatures that have been tamed or are ordinarily kept in captivity and includes any other wild creatures or their carcasses but only if they

(a)   have been reduced into possession that has not been lost or abandoned, or

(b)   are in the course of being reduced into possession.

An act done by a person under a reasonable belief that the person had a right to do the act does not constitute an element of any offence under this Part. Perhaps the simplest explanation of this is to consider joint marital property, where one party asserts, they have damaged their own property.

Damaging property includes removing, obliterating, defacing or altering the unique identifier of the property. The unique identifier is any numbers, letters or symbols that are marked on or attached to the property