Robbery is the crime of seizing property through violence or intimidation. A perpetrator of a robbery is a robber. Because violence is an ingredient of most robberies, they sometimes result in the harm or murder of their victims. Robbery is generally an urban crime. Use of the term The concept of property or ownership has no single or universally accepted definition. ... Violence is a general term to describe actions, usually deliberate, that cause or intend to cause injury to people, animals, or non-living objects. ... Intimidation is the act of making others do what one wants through fear. ... Urban is in or having to do with cities, as distinct from rural areas. ...

The element of force differentiates robbery from embezzlement, larceny, and other types of theft. Piracy is a type of robbery. Armed robbery involves the use of a weapon. Highway robbery takes place outside and in a public place. Carjacking is the act of stealing a car from a victim, usually at gunpoint. Banks are often the target of bank robberies. Larceny is a crime involving stealing. ... Theft (also known as stealing) is, in general, the wrongful taking of someone elses property without that persons willful consent. ... This article is about sea pirates. ... The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ... Public is of or pertaining to the people; belonging to the people; relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community; opposed to private; as, the public treasury, a road or lake Public also refers to the general body of mankind, or of a nation, state, or community; the people... Carjacking is the crime of motor vehicle theft from a person who is present. ... The essential function of a bank is to provide services related to the storing of value and the extending of credit. ... Bank robbery is the crime of robbing a bank. ...

In English law, the Theft Act, 1968 sets out when a person would be guilty of a robbery - if he "... steals (see theft in English law - steal is an alternative), and immediately before or at the time of doing so, and in order to do so, he uses force on any person or puts or seeks to put any person in fear of being then and there subjected to force". English law, the law of England and Wales (but not Scotland and Northern Ireland) is considered by some to be one of Britains great gifts to the world. ... In English law, theft is a criminal offence, which covers almost all forms of taking. ...

In other words a robbery can only occur where there has been a theft but the person suffering the theft need not be the person who is threatened or assaulted. A robbery would be committed where a robber attempts to steal from a jewellers shop but threatens a customer not the jeweller in order to commit the theft. By the same token the threats must be live. For example, if a person was threatened with being assaulted the following day it is likely that no offence of robbery would be committed - although the perpetrator wouldn't get clean away as (in English law) he would have committed the offence of extortion. Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person obtains money, behaviour, or other goods and/or services from another by wrongfully threatening or inflicting harm to his person, reputation, or property. ...

External links

• Largest British robbery (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/26/newsid_2529000/2529235.stm)