Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Crimes Act 1961

Threatening, conspiring, and attempting to commit offences

308: Threatening acts in relation to dwellinghouses and persons in dwellinghouses

You could also call this:

“Breaking or threatening someone's home, or scaring people inside, is against the law.”

If you try to scare or bother someone by damaging their home or acting in a threatening way, you can get in trouble with the law. This is what the law says:

You might have to go to prison for up to 3 years if you do any of these things to try to frighten or annoy someone:

You break or damage a house where people live, or you say you will do this.

You act in a scary way that makes someone in their home feel afraid or worried, or you try to make them feel this way.

These rules are there to help keep people safe and comfortable in their own homes.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM330792.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal law
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308A: Discharging firearm to intimidate, or

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Part 11 Threatening, conspiring, and attempting to commit offences

308Threatening acts in relation to dwellinghouses and persons in dwellinghouses

  1. Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years who, with intent to intimidate or annoy any person,—

  2. breaks or damages or threatens to break or damage any dwellinghouse; or
    1. by threatening behaviour, alarms or attempts to alarm any person in a dwellinghouse.

      Compare
      • 1908 No 32 ss 344, 345
      Notes
      • Section 308 heading: replaced, on , by section 4(1) of the Criminal Activity Intervention Legislation Act 2023 (2023 No 7).
      • Section 308(b): replaced, on , by section 4(2) of the Criminal Activity Intervention Legislation Act 2023 (2023 No 7).