There will therefore be little difficulty in prosecuting as theft situations where the stolen car is later sold (sometimes through a process of 'ringing' i.e. its identity is changed and forged documents of title produced) or broken for spare parts, because the evidence of an intent permanently to deprive is clear.
Alternatively, it covers situations where a vehicle is taken for the purposes of another offence, e.g. it is to be used to escape after a bank robbery and then abandoned.
Taking by force may be robbery when the defendant did not intend the victim to recover the vehicle at all or so seriously damaged it that such conduct amounts to a theft (see section 6).
If the evidence is insufficient for theft, the alternative charges are aggravated vehicle taking or blackmail under section 21.
It is committed if a person commits an offence under section 12(1) of the Theft Act 1968 in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle and it is proved that at any time after the vehicle was unlawfully taken (whether by that person or another) and before it was recovered, the vehicle was driven, or death, injury or damage was caused, in one or more the circumstances listed in section 12A(2): There are two offences: under section 12A(2)(b) where an accident results in the death of another (maximum 14-year sentence), and the less serious version under the other three headings (maximum two years sentence).
In R v Marcus Leon Ashley Forbes,[3] the defendant was convicted of aggravated taking and driving while disqualified.
The judge imposed the maximum consecutive sentences for these offences, reduced on appeal to 22 months' detention in a young offender institution as the defendant should have been given credit for a guilty plea.
Where the vehicle is abandoned in a place where it is unlikely to be found the common law offence of theft is the more appropriate charge.