The elements of simple criminal damage under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 — what must be destroyed or damaged, with what state of mind, and when a lawful excuse applies.
A scratched car door, graffiti washed off with water, a crop trampled in protest — whether each amounts to a crime turns on a small set of statutory elements. This chapter opens with the offence itself: what the prosecution must prove, how the offence is classified and the maximum sentence. It then works through the actus reus — what counts as destruction or damage, whether temporary harm suffices, and how property is defined — before examining when property belongs to another, including jointly owned property and a defendant's own. The mens rea follows, with recklessness, the basic intent classification and the effect of voluntary intoxication, and the chapter closes with the two lawful excuse defences under s.5(2): belief in consent and protection of property, both judged on honest rather than reasonable belief.
