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Blackmail

s.21Theft Act 1968

Making an unwarranted demand with menaces, with a view to gain for yourself or another or with intent to cause loss to another.

Blackmail · Theft Act 1968, s.21Card 21 / 85

Points to prove

Made a demand
With menaces
Which was unwarranted
With a view to gain for themselves or another, or with intent to cause loss to another

Demand – can be express or implied, and spoken, written or made by conduct. A demand sent by letter is made when it is posted (Treacy v DPP 1971).
Menaces – a threat of any action that is detrimental to or unpleasant for the person addressed, not just violence. The threat must be such that an ordinary person of normal stability would be influenced by it (R v Clear 1968). If the victim is unusually timid and the defendant knows it, that can still be menaces (R v Garwood 1987).
Unwarranted – s.21(1): a demand with menaces is unwarranted unless the person making it believes both that they have reasonable grounds for making the demand and that using the menaces is a proper way to reinforce it.
Gain and loss – s.34(2)(a): only gain or loss in money or other property, whether temporary or permanent. Gain includes keeping what you have; loss includes not getting what you might get.

The test of whether the demand is warranted is about the defendant’s own belief, and both beliefs must be held. A person cannot believe that threatening to commit a crime is a “proper” means if they know it is a crime (R v Harvey 1981).
s.21(2): the nature of the act or omission demanded does not matter, and nor does whether the menaces relate to action by the person making the demand.
No property has to change hands and the victim does not need to be frightened. The offence is complete when the demand is made.
Seeking money that is genuinely owed can still be blackmail if the menaces are not believed to be a proper means of getting it.
Goods obtained by blackmail count as stolen goods for handling (s.24(4)).