Discuss the potential criminal liability of Dinah, Enrico and Farid under the Criminal Damage Act 1971.

Word count: 2000 

 PLEASE NOTE:  

Assessments MUST be properly referenced and MUST include a bibliography. Adequacy of referencing will form part of the marking criteria.

Answer the following problem question in full:

Dinah is a famous artist and a committed activist on social justice issues. She decides to raise awareness about the housing crisis on the run up to Christmas by painting a large mural, using water-soluble paint, on the side of a new luxury block of flats. She does this under cover of darkness and just before a planned opening day at the development for maximum impact. Potential buyers are confronted on arrival with a well-executed and thought-provoking image: the mural shows a group of distressed homeless people being turned away from the entrance to the flats, below a title proclaiming ‘No room at the Inn’.

Later that evening a group of local teenagers are playing with fireworks round the back of a nearby shopping arcade. Enrico (aged 16) knows that this is dangerous but tells his friends that he is 100% sure there will be no problem. When he lights one of the fireworks, it shoots off into a pile of rubbish, which quickly bursts into flames. Afraid of getting into trouble, he runs away.

Farid is working as a security guard for the shopping arcade. He sees the fire spreading towards the entrance to the shops but decides not to call 999 because he is annoyed at his employers, having recently been told that he is being made redundant. Farid briefly wonders if any rough sleepers might be inside the arcade, where a number have taken to camping overnight due to the bad weather. But he pushes this thought to the back of his mind. The blaze causes extensive damage to the arcade and a group of homeless people are rescued just in time and are treated for shock and smoke inhalation.

Discuss the potential criminal liability of Dinah, Enrico and Farid under the Criminal Damage Act 1971.