When an individual hears someone saying ‘mischief’, then the mind automatically gets to pranks and the usual door-bell scenario, where kids pick on the elderly. But, it can be considered as a serious offence if one decides to complain about a certain mischievous situation. A criminal lawyer Mississauga states that according to the Criminal Code of Canada, anything done by a person that seems to harm others or damage the property or any misbehaviour can be considered as a mischief offence. There are different categories in mischief as well and the two of the major categories being – Criminal Mischief and Public Mischief. Let’s understand these offences a bit more carefully so that they are completely avoided.
Criminal Mischief
First thing, entering others property is considered as an offence; so, if an individual complains about trespassing one could be arrested. Criminal mischief goes beyond this action and involves things like vandalism. An individual can be considered as the one who has done a criminal mischief if he or she sprays paint on the walls of others, writes slogans, breaks windows, bursts a tire of a vehicle, interferes with the legal actions of someone, etc. Even hacking computers of others [for any purpose] is considered as a Criminal Mischief. If an individual is caught performing any of the acts, then it becomes inevitable hire Passi & Patel offence lawyer to have a fair trial.
The fines, as well as prison sentence, levied on mischief offences are not meagre and are dependent on the damage. If the damage is below $5000 then the individual may get an equivalent fine and a prison sentence of 1-2 years based on the intensity. If the damage is considered to be more than $5000, then the person can be sentenced for ten years. Further, a mischief offence can turn into a crime if it involves life threatening situations. In such cases, only a Mississauga criminal lawyer can help resolve the situation.
Public Mischief
This is well-known to children who try to bring police to their door by false complaining. If false information is provided to the police under any circumstance, then it is considered as a Public Mischief. In the opinion of a criminal lawyer Mississauga, false information immediately triggers investigation and rushing of police to the scene. This wastes a lot of valuable time and money for the authorities. It is very common to find reports of people complaining about a crime scene or a bomb threat just to get the fun out of it. Such incidents can lead the individual to an imprisonment of 5 years.
Public mischief includes false information about criminal occurrences, intentionally framing a person for an activity, misleading the authorities, false death information and so on. They may seem silly for the doer but can cause a lot of chaos.
As one can observe Mischief offences are not to be taken lightly and can create a lot of trouble. It is for this reason; the authorities take strict measures to stop such practices. However, if an individual is accused of such behaviours then approaching a Mississauga criminal lawyer can be the only way to get rid of the problem.
