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The ‘handling’ offence

Handling stolen goods is an offence under section 22 of the Theft Act 1968 (TA 1968) that is Triable either way.

The elements of the offence are:

1. •

   dishonestly receiving the Goods, or

2. •

   dishonestly undertaking or assisting in their Retention, removal, disposal or realisation by or for the benefit of another person, or arranging to do so

3. •

   knowing or believing them to be stolen goods, and

4. •

   the goods having been stolen

The offence is committed while the defendant is acting otherwise than in the course of stealing. As theft can be a continuing act it is sometimes difficult to show whether the defendant in possession of stolen goods is a thief or a handler of goods that have already been stolen. In such cases the prosecution will charge handling stolen goods in the alternative.

The goods must have been stolen but proof of a conviction for the predicate theft is not required; nor is it necessary to name the person who stole the goods. If the person who stole the goods is specified