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Robbery — professionally planned commercial

Theft, burglary and robbery — practical elements, sentencing links and station notes for accredited reps in England & Wales.

Theft, burglary and robbery

Robbery — professionally planned commercial

Theft Act 1968, s.8

England & Wales. Elements, mode of trial, maximum and defences — not a charging or outcome predictor.

Triable
Indictable only
Maximum penalty
Life imprisonment

Actus reus

  • Theft Act 1968, s.8(1) — same elements as robbery. The commercial/professionally-planned guideline is a sentencing split, not a different offence.

Mens rea

  • Mens rea for theft, and force or putting in fear in order to steal.

Defences

Deny theft · No force or threat of then-and-there force · Deny identification

Sentencing Council

Sentencing Council guideline effective 1 April 2016. Offence range: 18 months’ – 20 years’ custody.

View definitive guideline ↗

At the police station

Shop, garage and security-staff cases still stand or fall on s.8(1). Do not treat “commercial” as an extra ingredient.

When to involve a rep or solicitor

Police station advice is free under legal aid and is not means-tested.

Authoritative sources for this page

Statute plus Sentencing Council (and CPS where listed) are the two primary sources we used for mode of trial, maximum and elements. Case links are from our verified registry only.

More in Theft, burglary and robbery

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Sources & further reading

Links are to official publishers (legislation, gov.uk, CPS, LAA, Sentencing Council). Case law on this site is limited to entries in our verified case-law registry. Always confirm the current version before relying on it in live advice.