Larceny

Larceny, in criminal law, felonious taking of money or personal property of another. Larceny is distinguished from robbery, in that the latter involves the use of force or threats of injury against the person from whom the money or property is taken. Examples of larceny are the picking of another's pocket, the embezzlement of funds by a bank employee, or obtaining property by fraud or false pretences.

In the old common law, several elements had to be present to constitute larceny: the property had to be actually taken and carried away and had to be in the absolute possession of the thief; the taking and carrying had to be against the consent of the owner or possessor, and accompanied by a simultaneous felonious intent at the time the property was taken. Larceny in old common law was classified as compound or simple. Simple larceny was called grand larceny when the value of the stolen property was more than 12 pence, and petit (petty) larceny when the value was less. Compound larceny was the taking and carrying away of property from the person or house of the owner.

The law of theft was radically overhauled and codified by the Theft Act 1968, since when most offences formerly prosecuted as larceny have been charged as theft. The offences of false accounting and obtaining property by deception account for most of the rest of the old law of larceny. The value of the goods stolen is irrelevant to the offence, though relevant to the penalty.