R v Denton [1981] 1 WLR 1446 Court of Appeal

The appellant set light to some machinery at his place of employment causing £40,000 worth of damage. He then gave himself in to the police and said that he had deliberately done so because the business was in financial difficulty and he thought that setting fire to the machinery would help out the employer. The employer had hinted that it would be desirable if the machinery was put out of action and that there was nothing like a good fire to improve the financial position of the business. The trial judge ruled that the word 'entitled' to consent in s.5(2)was qualified with the word 'honestly'. The defendant therefore pleaded guilty to criminal damage by arson and appealed the judge’s ruling requiring honesty.

Held:

The appellants conviction was quashed. There was no requirement that the person entitled to consent was honest.

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