The table below gives the names of some other types of crimes together with their associated verbs and the name of the person who commits the crimes.

crime	definition	criminal	verb
murder	killing someone	murderer	murder
shoplifting	stealing something from a shop	shoplifter	shoplift
burglary	stealing from someone’s home	burglar	burgle
smuggling	taking something illegally into another country	smuggler	smuggle
arson	setting fire to something in a criminal way	arsonist	to set fire to
kidnapping	taking a person hostage in exchange for money or other favours, etc.	kidnapper	kidnap

3. Here are some more useful verbs connected with crime and law. Note that many of them have particular prepositions associated with them.

to commit a crime or an offence: to do something illegal

to accuse someone of a crime: to say someone is guilty

to charge someone with (murder): to bring someone to court

to plead guilty or not guilty: to swear in court that someone is guilty or otherwise

to defend / prosecute someone in court: to argue for or against someone in a trial

to pass verdict on an accused person: to decide whether they are guilty or not

to sentence someone to a punishment: what the judge does after a verdict of guilty

to acquit an accused person of a charge: to decide in court that someone is not guilty (the opposite of to convict someone)

to fine someone a sum of money: to punish someone by making them pay

to send someone to prison: to punish someone by putting them in prison

to release someone from prison / jail: to set someone free after a prison sentence

to be tried: to have a case judged in court

 

Here are some useful nouns.

trial: the legal process in court whereby an accused person is investigated, or tried, and then found guilty or not guilty

case:a crime that is being investigated

evidence: information used in a court of law to decide whether the accused is guilty or not

proof:evidence that shows conclusively whether something is a fact or not

judge: the person who leads a trial and decides on the sentence

jury: group of twelve citizens who decide whether the accused is guilty or not

 

5. Put the right form of either rob or steal in the sentences below.

1. Last night an armed gang … the post office. They … 2000 pounds.

2. My handbag … at the theatre yesterday.

3. Every year large numbers of banks ….

4. Jane … of the opportunity to stand for president.

 

Fill the blanks in the paragraph below with one of the verbs from Practice 2.3.

One of the two accused man …(1) at yesterday’s trial. Although his lawyer … (2) him very well, he was still found guilty by the jury. The judge … (3) him to two years in prison. He’ll probably … (4) after eighteen months. The other accused man was luckier. He … (5) and left the courtroom smiling broadly.

 

7. Here are some more crimes. Complete a table like the one in Practice 2.2.

 

crime	criminal	verb	definition
terrorism
blackmail
drug-trafficking
forgery
assault		assault
pick pocketing
mugging

Here are some words connected with law and crime. If necessary, use a dictionary to help you check that you understand what they all mean. Then divide them into three groups, in what seems to you to be the most logical way.

Theft, witness, detective, probation, drunken driving, member of a jury, prison, hi-jacking, traffic warden, lawyer, judge, fine, flogging, death penalty, smuggling, bribery, community service, rape.

 

9. Look at all the crimes named in this unit. Which do you think are the three most serious and the three least serious?

 

10. Write a paragraph to fit this newspaper headline. Give some details about the crime and the court case, using as many words from this unit as is appropriate.

 

Local girl’s evidence gets mugger two years prison

 

Follow up: If possible look at an English language newspaper. List all the words connected with crime and the law, which you can find in it.

UNIT 2

 

1. Below you see the story of an extraordinary case in British legal history. The affair started in 1949 and was finally closed in 1966.