Stealing stolen goods

[Andy008]

If I steal something, say a car, which I know to be already stolen immediatly prior to "stealing" it, am I guilty of theft?

[rojash]

Of course - you are taking property that doesn't belong to you, without the consent of the owner, so what else would you call it but theft?

[Andy008]

Yeah, but it's already been nicked...?

[netibiza]

...but it still has a legal owner and that isn't you.

[Laura-sakura]

Handling stolen goods, knowing them to be stolen carries similar penalties.

[Loosehead]

The best way to look at this is to test the theory to extremes. Imagine it was legal to steal something that was already stolen, then theives would work in pairs, one steals the other steals off the thief and the original thief steals it back, result both have stolen an already stolen item. QED this cannot be correct, hence thieving from a thief is still theft! Compare with finding say a wallet in the street. If you keep it, it is theft even though you have not taken it directly from the owner.