Abstracting Electricity in United Kingdom

Definition of Abstracting Electricity

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Abstracting Electricity : The *arrestable offence, punishable with up to five years’ imprisonment and/or a fine, of dishonestly using, wasting, or diverting electricity. This offence may be committed by someone who bypasses his electricity meter or reconnects a disconnected meter or who unlawfully obtains a free telephone call (though there is a more specific and potentially less serious offence to deal with this). Bypassing a gas or water meter could constitute *theft of the gas or water. Joyriding in a lift (or some similar abuse) might also constitute wasting electricity. Computer hackers were formerly charged with offences of abstracting electricity until the Computer Misuse Act 1990 made *hacking a specific criminal offence.