Editing Larceny (section)

====By trick====
{{See also|Fraud}}

Using [[confidence tricks]] (deception) to get possession of property is larceny.

Larceny by trick is descriptive of the method used to obtain possession.  The concept arose from [[King v Pear|Pear's Case]] decided in 1779.<ref>''King v Pear'', 1 Leach 212, 168 Eng.Rep. 208 (1779).</ref> The issue was whether a person who had fraudulently obtained possession of personal property (a horse) could be convicted of larceny. The chief impediment to conviction was the doctrine of possessorial immunity which said that a person who had acquired possession lawfully, that is with the consent of the owner, could not be prosecuted for larceny. Clearly the owner of the horse had given the defendant possession of the animal – he had agreed that the defendant could borrow the horse to ride to Surrey.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t17790915-22&div=t17790915-22&terms=finch#highlight |title=Browse - Central Criminal Court |publisher=Oldbaileyonline.org |access-date=2013-11-12}}</ref> The case would seem to have been cut and dried – the doctrine of possessorial immunity applied and the defendant was therefore not guilty of larceny. The court held that consent induced by fraud was not consent in the eyes of the law. The fraudulent act that induced the owner to transfer possession "vitiated" the consent. This concept of consent broadened the scope of larceny. Before, consent meant the voluntary relinquishment of possession and thus property was wrongfully taken only if the defendant acquired possession by stealth, force or threat of force.