South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts (1) A person who
commits theft is guilty of robbery if—
(a) the
person—
(i)
uses force, or threatens to use force, against another in
order to commit the theft; or
(ii)
uses force, or threatens to use force, against another in
order to escape from the scene of the offence; and
(b) the
force is used, or the threat is made, at the time of, or immediately before or
after, the theft.
Maximum penalty:
(a) for
a basic offence—imprisonment for 15 years;
(b) for
an aggravated offence—imprisonment for life.
(3) If 2 or more
persons jointly commit robbery in company, each is guilty of aggravated
robbery.
Example—
Suppose that A and B plan to steal from a service station. A assaults the
attendant while B takes money from the till. In this case, each is guilty of
robbery on the principle enunciated by the High Court in McAuliffe v R
((1995) 183 CLR 108). Robbery committed in these circumstances is to be
treated as aggravated robbery. In other words, the principle that, where
robbery is committed jointly, each participant in the offence is guilty of
aggravated robbery applies irrespective of whether all elements of robbery can
be established against a particular person.