scrubbedexpat099

Theft in the UK require a permanent element.

civilservant

More specifically, the Men's Rea requires the intention to permenantly deprive.

ian-mstm

I'm not sure that the rea actually belongs to the men!

Ian

civilservant

Damn autocorrect. I did NOT put that in there!

Pulaski

True, but proving "intent" is notoriously difficult, as is often noted here on the the immigration forums of BE. So if you're stopped by the police while in the possession of something that does not belong to you, and for which the owner did not give you permission to borrow or take, claiming that you were "only borrowing it" is unlikely to be a successful defence.