It was first introduced on the recommendation of the Criminal Law Revision Committee and is intended to protect legitimate business concerns and applies where goods are supplied or a service is performed on the basis that payment will be made there and then.
A taxi passenger who runs off without paying the fare at the end of the journey; and a motorist who fills up with petrol at a garage and drives off when the attendant is distracted.
Prior to the creation of the offence, running off might be a tort but it was not a crime; the supplier would have to bring a civil lawsuit against the recipient.
In England and Wales, this offence is created by section 3 of the Theft Act 1978, which provides: In R v Allen,[2] the House of Lords said that, in order for the offence to be committed, there must be "an intention to permanently deprive" by making off, and that a mere "intention to defer" payment is not sufficient.
[3] In theory, a person could eat a meal at a restaurant, not pay, but leave his name and address in order for the restaurant to start civil recovery procedures against him; as long as the details were correct, and he did intend to pay at some point in the future (by way of civil recovery), then no offence under Section 3 would be committed.