Robbery is the offense of taking property directly from a person or their immediate presence through force or the threat of force, a defining element that distinguishes it from theft or larceny, which require no confrontation with the victim. Because it combines a property crime with an act or threat of violence against a person, robbery is classified as a violent offense in most criminal codes and criminological crime statistics, and it is typically graded more severely than simple theft, with aggravated forms, involving a weapon, serious injury, or multiple offenders, carrying substantially harsher sentences. Common statutory variants include armed robbery, committed with a firearm or other weapon, and carjacking, the robbery of a motor vehicle from its occupant, each recognized as its own named offense in many jurisdictions because of the particular danger the circumstances present. Robbery is extensively studied in criminology both as a frequently recorded index crime used to measure violent-crime trends and as a subject of situational crime-prevention research examining how target selection, guardianship, and opportunity shape where and when it occurs.
Facts
Classification CodeRobbery is classified as an aggravated form of theft: in England and Wales it is a statutory offense under section 8(1) of the Theft Act 1968, and unlike ordinary theft, which is triable either way, robbery is triable only on indictment in the Crown Court. 1 Typical PenaltyEnglish sentencing guidelines set robbery starting points from around one year for a low-harm, low-culpability street robbery up to sixteen years for a high-harm, high-culpability professionally planned robbery, with a legal maximum of life imprisonment. 1 Elements of OffenseAt common law, robbery is a theft aggravated by the use of force or fear: the accused must steal property and, immediately before or at the time of the taking, use force on a person or put a person in fear of being then subjected to force. 1 Notable ExampleThe 1978 English case R v Hale held that a robbery conviction can stand even when the exact timing between the theft and the use of force could not be pinned down, because the appropriation needed to prove theft is treated as a continuing act rather than a single instant. 1 Jurisdiction VariationRobbery sentencing differs sharply by jurisdiction: Canada imposes a mandatory minimum of five years for a first robbery committed with a restricted or prohibited firearm and seven years for a repeat offense, while California caps robbery at a maximum of nine years under its own penal code. 1 Classification
Offense GradeSerious or Indictable Offense 1 Connections
Associated With
Source Cornell LII Wex: Robbery
Source Mail robbery (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Routine Activity Theory
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
Sources
1. Robbery (Wikipedia)
Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbery, lead paragraph
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear.
Lead section
Under English law, most forms of theft are triable either way, whereas robbery is triable only on indictment.
England and Wales, Sentence subsection
The maximum legal punishment is imprisonment for life.
England and Wales section, Theft Act 1968 s.8(1) text
A person is guilty of robbery if he steals, 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.
England and Wales, Steals subsection, R v Hale
In R v Hale (1978) the application of force and the stealing took place in many different locations, and it was not possible to establish the timing; it was held that the appropriation necessary to prove theft was a continuing act, and the jury could correctly convict of robbery.
United States, California subsection
The maximum sentence for robbery in California is 9 years, according to Penal Code section 213(a)(1)(A).
Lead section, felony-versus-misdemeanor comparison clause
Robbery is differentiated from other forms of theft (such as burglary, shoplifting, pickpocketing, or car theft) by its inherently violent nature (a violent crime); whereas many lesser forms of theft are punished as misdemeanors, robbery is always a felony in jurisdictions that distinguish between the two.
View the Source Cornell LII Wex: Robbery
Associated With: Larceny, Introductory sectionQuote, Associated With: Larceny, Introductory section
Because robbery involves violent force or the threat of such force, it is considered a more serious crime than other similar theft crimes, such as larceny (which does not require such force), for example.
Wikipedia: Routine Activity Theory
Associated With: Routine Activity Theory, Applications sectionQuote, Associated With: Routine Activity Theory, Applications section
Over time, the theory has been extensively employed to study sexual crimes, robberies, cyber crimes, residential burglary and corresponding victimizations, among others.
Mail robbery (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Mail Robbery, Wikipedia, Mail robbery, lead sectionQuote, Associated With: Mail Robbery, Wikipedia, Mail robbery, lead section
Mail robbery is the robbery of mail usually when it is in the possession, custody, or control, of the delivering authority, which in most countries is the postal operator and can involve the theft of money or luxury goods.
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