Smith's Law of Theft has long been established as the definitive work on the subject and is frequently cited in the appellate courts. Now in its ninth edition, the book provides a detailed and critical account of the law of theft and related dishonesty offences. It contains the full, amended text of relevant legislation (notably, the Theft Acts 1968, 1978, and 1996) together with a detailed analysis of the provisions of the statutes and the extensive case law which has grown up around them. This new edition has been comprehensively rewritten and updated to take full account of the Fraud Act 2006, which has replaced the deception offences with new fraud offences. There have been major changes in other areas of law besides fraud, and the authors offer expert analysis of case law developments such as Hinks in the House of Lords on theft and gift, jurisdictional issues arising from Smith; and of procedural changes introduced by the fraud protocol and the imminent introduction of judge only trials. A whole new chapter on conspiracy to defraud is included in the new edition, and the full text of the Fraud Act and the fraud protocol are included in the appendices.

'No one who prepares a case for trial on theft should do so without reading this book'. * Clare Montgomery QC, Matrix Chambers *
'A much-needed and comprehensive update of this leading work. In particular, the chapters on the Fraud Act 2006 offer a valuable analysis of that important new legislation'. * Rt Hon Lord Justice Hooper *

David Ormerod is Professor of Criminal Justice at Queen Mary's College, University of London.David is also a member of the Criminal Justice Council, and is a barrister at 18 Red Lion Court, London. He is the author of over 50 journal articles and book chapters, and several hundred case commentaries. He is the editor of Smith and Hogan, Criminal Law (11th ed. 2005), Smith and Hogan Cases and Materials on Criminal Law (9th ed. 2005). David is the Criminal Law Review Cases Editor; General Editor for Blackstone's Criminal Practice; and serves on the Editorial Boards of the International Journal of Evidence & Proof and Covert Policing Review. He lectures regularly to the profession and judiciary and has acted as a consultant to the Law Commission, Home Office and the Commonwealth Secretariat. David Huw Williams is a practising barrister specialising in criminal law and, more particularly, in cases involving serious and complex fraud. David Williams is a barrister at 18 Red Lion Court (called 1988). He is a leading junior in white collar criminal law and contributed to Fraud: Law & Practice (2004, LNUK).