Correct on the date of publication - 29 December 2025
Question:
We have carried out an inquiry into a team who have been taking cars without consent on a regular basis and it has been going on for over a year. Because taking a conveyance is a summary-only offence can we prosecute them for offences that happened more than six months ago?
Answer:
Taking a conveyance is indeed a summary-only offence and the normal legal position is that proceedings must be commenced within six months. However, in order to deal with cases like this, subsections 12(4A) to (4C) were added to section 12 of the Theft Act 1968 by the Vehicles (Crime) Act 2001.
This provision allows proceedings to be commenced up to three years after the date of the offence, as long as they are begun within six month of the day on which sufficient evidence came to the knowledge of the person responsible for deciding whether to commence proceedings. A certificate provided by the person responsible for deciding whether to commence the prosecution, as to the date on which such sufficient evidence came to their knowledge, is deemed conclusive evidence of this fact.
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