Criminal Damage Law UK: Charges and Penalties Explained

Criminal damage, destroying or damaging someone else's property without a lawful excuse, is a crime across the United Kingdom, but England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each define it in a different statute, with different penalties and different rules for which court hears the case.

Criminal damage covers a wide range of conduct, from a smashed window or a keyed car to graffiti and deliberate fire damage. What connects all of it is a simple test: did the person destroy or damage property that belonged to someone else, without a lawful excuse, and did they mean to do it or realise there was a risk of it happening and go ahead anyway.

What Counts as Criminal Damage in England and Wales

Section 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 creates the basic offence: a person who, without lawful excuse, destroys or damages any property belonging to another, intending to destroy or damage that property or being reckless as to whether it would be destroyed or damaged, is guilty of an offence. That wording covers both deliberate damage and damage caused recklessly, where the person did not mean it to happen but knew there was an obvious risk and carried on regardless.

A separate, more serious offence exists at section 1(2), commonly called aggravated criminal damage. It applies where the damage is done intending, or being reckless as to whether, life would be endangered as a result, for example throwing a heavy object from a bridge onto a busy road. This aggravated form carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, reflecting the risk to life rather than the property loss itself. Damage caused by fire is charged as arson under section 1(3), a distinct and generally more serious way of committing the offence. Basic criminal damage carries a maximum of 10 years on indictment, and arson and aggravated criminal damage carry life, under section 4 of the 1971 Act.

The £5,000 Threshold: Which Court Hears the Case

Criminal damage is a scheduled offence for the purposes of section 22 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, and Schedule 2 of that Act lists it, along with a valuation method for distinguishing destroyed property from damaged property. Section 22 sets 'the relevant sum' at £5,000. If the value of the damage alleged is £5,000 or less, the case must be treated as summary only and dealt with in the magistrates' court, except for damage by fire (arson) or damage to a memorial, which are excluded from this rule whatever the value (simple arson and memorial damage stay either way; arson or other damage endangering life can only be tried in the Crown Court). A case dealt with under this rule carries a maximum of 3 months in prison or a level 4 fine (£2,500), under section 33 of the same Act. If the value is unclear, the defendant is asked whether they consent to summary trial, and a series of similar charges is judged on the total value. That figure has applied since 3 February 1995 and has not been increased since, despite being three decades old.

Above £5,000, the ordinary either way procedure applies, and the case can be allocated to the Crown Court for trial or sentence. Magistrates cannot pass more than 12 months in prison for a single either way offence, under section 224 of the Sentencing Act 2020, so once a case crosses the £5,000 threshold and is sent up, the available sentence can be considerably longer than magistrates could impose themselves. Magistrates who convict an adult of criminal damage worth more than £5,000 can also commit them to the Crown Court for sentence under section 14 of the Sentencing Act 2020; that power does not apply to a case dealt with under the £5,000-or-less rule.

Northern Ireland: No Value Threshold, and a Higher Maximum

The Criminal Damage (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 defines the basic offence at Article 3 in wording that is essentially identical to the 1971 Act used in England and Wales: destroying or damaging property belonging to another, without lawful excuse, intending or being reckless as to the destruction or damage. Where Northern Ireland genuinely diverges is on how a case gets to court and what the maximum sentence is.

There is no value threshold in the 1977 Order equivalent to the £5,000 figure used in England and Wales. Instead, under Article 9(1) of the 1977 Order, a person charged with basic criminal damage may be tried summarily only if the prosecutor consents, and in that case the maximum on summary conviction is a level 5 fine or two years in prison, or both. If the prosecutor does not consent to summary trial, the case proceeds on indictment, where Article 6 sets the maximum for any offence under the Order other than arson at 14 years in prison, a figure raised by a 2004 amending Order and considerably higher than a reader might expect by assuming Northern Ireland simply mirrors England and Wales. Arson, or any offence under Article 3(2) whether it amounts to arson or not, carries a maximum of life imprisonment on indictment under the same Article 6.

Scotland: Vandalism, Not Criminal Damage

Scotland does not have an offence called criminal damage. The closest equivalent is vandalism, created by section 52 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995, which makes it an offence for a person, without reasonable excuse, wilfully or recklessly to destroy or damage property belonging to another. Fire raising cannot be prosecuted as vandalism; section 52(2) excludes it, and it is instead a separate matter.

Section 52(3) sets the penalties, and they run on a different structure to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In the lay tier of court, the statute's own text still refers to the 'district court', a term that stopped being used when district courts were replaced, sheriffdom by sheriffdom from 2008, by Justice of the Peace courts set up under the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007; the modern equivalent is the Justice of the Peace court, and the penalty band there under section 52(3)(a) is up to 60 days in custody or a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale. In the sheriff court, section 52(3)(b) allows up to 3 months for a first offence, or 6 months for a subsequent offence, or the prescribed sum by way of fine. There is no value threshold in Scotland comparable to the £5,000 figure used in England and Wales; vandalism is tried only under summary procedure, in the Justice of the Peace court or the sheriff court, and more serious damage can instead be charged as malicious mischief.

Scotland separately retains a common law offence of malicious mischief, used for damage that is unusually large scale or high in value, described in the Scottish Crime Recording Standard, which governs how crimes are recorded, as needing to be significant (several thousand pounds) before malicious mischief is recorded, or where there is disruption such as flooding or a loss of power supply. Both vandalism and malicious mischief require the property damaged to belong to someone other than the accused; malicious mischief is not, as sometimes assumed, a route for damage to a person's own property. It exists to catch the more serious end of damage offending rather than a different category of ownership.

Minor Criminal Damage and the Penalty Notice for Disorder Route

Not every instance of low level criminal damage in England and Wales ends up being prosecuted at all. Police have the option, for genuinely minor incidents, of dealing with the matter through a Penalty Notice for Disorder rather than bringing a charge. See Penalty Notices for Disorder for how that route works, what paying it means, and how it differs from a caution or a court outcome.

Getting Help

This page explains the general framework for criminal damage and vandalism law across the UK; it does not cover every scenario or every local practice. Anyone facing an actual charge should get independent advice. A duty solicitor is available free at the police station, and criminal legal aid may cover representation at court; see legal aid eligibility for how that works. For the wider picture of criminal law topics on this site, see the UK Criminal Law hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between criminal damage and vandalism?

They describe the same underlying conduct, damaging someone else's property without a lawful excuse, but the name and the governing statute differ by nation. England and Wales and Northern Ireland use 'criminal damage', under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 and the Criminal Damage (Northern Ireland) Order 1977. Scotland uses 'vandalism', under section 52 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995.

What is the £5,000 threshold in criminal damage cases?

In England and Wales, section 22 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 sets £5,000 as the dividing line for how a criminal damage case is dealt with. If the value of the damage is £5,000 or less, the case is treated as summary only and stays in the magistrates' court, unless it is damage by fire or to a memorial. Above £5,000, it can be sent to the Crown Court under the ordinary either way procedure.

Does Northern Ireland use the same £5,000 threshold as England and Wales?

No. Northern Ireland has no equivalent value threshold at all. Under Article 9(1) of the Criminal Damage (Northern Ireland) Order 1977, a case can only be tried summarily if the prosecutor consents to it, regardless of the value of the damage. On indictment, basic criminal damage carries a maximum of 14 years under Article 6.

Can minor criminal damage be dealt with without going to court?

Sometimes. In England and Wales, police can deal with genuinely low level criminal damage using a Penalty Notice for Disorder instead of prosecuting it, which is a different outcome from a conviction or a caution.

What is the maximum sentence for criminal damage?

It depends on the nation and the version of the offence. In England and Wales, basic criminal damage carries up to 10 years on indictment (up to 3 months where the damage is £5,000 or less and the case stays in the magistrates' court), and arson and aggravated criminal damage, where life was endangered, carry up to life, under section 4 of the 1971 Act. In Northern Ireland, basic criminal damage carries up to 14 years on indictment. In England and Wales, magistrates are limited to 12 months for a single either way offence, so more serious cases go to the Crown Court. In Northern Ireland, a magistrates' court trying criminal damage can impose up to two years. In Scotland, vandalism is tried only summarily, with a maximum of 3 months for a first offence and 6 months for a later one, and more serious damage can be prosecuted as the common law offence of malicious mischief.