The Times has now con­cluded its series on The (Legal) Cases That Changed Britain: 1785 — 2006.

DPP v Ray
July 27, 1973

This case set­tled an impor­tant prin­ci­ple of law applic­a­ble to peo­ple caught leg­ging it out of restau­rants with­out pay­ing. It has been applied count­less times since. After eat­ing a meal in the Wing Wah restau­rant in Gains­bor­ough, Lin­colnshire, Roger Ray, a uni­ver­sity stu­dent, and his three com­pan­ions decided not to pay. About 10 min­utes later, after wait­ing for the waiter to leave the din­ing room, they made off. Ray was con­victed under the Theft Act (now cov­ered by the Fraud Act 2006) and the con­vic­tion was upheld by the House of Lords. The law lords ruled that Ray had impliedly stated in order­ing the meal that he intended to pay, and that by remain­ing in his seat after decid­ing not to pay had osten­si­bly con­tin­ued that ear­lier implied state­ment, thereby deceiv­ing the waiter.

Part one: 1785–1869 | Part two: 1870–1916 | Part three: 1917–1954 | Part Four: 1955–1971 | Part five: 1972–2006