Mobbing, also called mobbing and rioting, is a criminal offense in Scots law committed when a group of people combine for an illegal purpose, or to carry out a legal purpose by illegal means such as violence or intimidation, to the alarm of the public. What separates mobbing from related public order offenses such as breach of the peace is the requirement of a common purpose shared by the participants, since individual disruptive acts without that shared objective fall outside the crime. The definition draws on the 1842 case HM Advocate v Robertson, which described an illegal mob as people acting together for a common illegal purpose through violence, a show of force, intimidation or obstruction, without needing the objective to have been planned in advance, and compensation for resulting damage is provided for under the Riotous Assemblies Scotland Act 1822 and the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.
Facts
Elements of OffenseA group combines to the alarm of the public for an illegal purpose, or to carry out a legal purpose by illegal means such as violence or intimidation 1 Notable ExampleHancock and others v HM Advocate 1981 SCCR 32, in which the High Court approved the 1842 HM Advocate v Robertson direction on illegal mobs as an accurate statement of the law 1 Jurisdiction VariationScots law: mobbing, also known as mobbing and rioting, under the law of Scotland 1 Classification
Offense GradeMinor or Summary Offense 1 Connections
Has Offense Grade
Entity-backed identity for the offense-grade enum value this offense already carries, resolved to a crime concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The offense-grade fact itself stays on the offense unchanged.
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Scotland, found in there.
Sources
1. Mobbing (Scots law), Wikipedia
Description of when the crime occurs
for an illegal purpose, or in order to carry out a legal purpose by illegal means, e.g. violence or intimidation
Passage on approval by the High Court
These passages were approved by the High Court, as an accurate statement of the law, in Hancock and others v HM Advocate 1981 SCCR 32.
Opening sentence
Under the law of Scotland, mobbing, also known as mobbing and rioting, is the formation of a mob engaged in disorderly and criminal behaviour.
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