⇒ For some offences it must be shown that the defendant did an act knowing or believing that a certain state of affairs existed.

⇒ It should be noted that in cases where the mens rea is knowledge, careful consideration should be given to which aspects of the actus reus need to be known.

• For example, the offence of handling stolen goods requires proof that the defendant knew or believed that the goods were stolen.

⇒ The difference between knowledge and belief appears simply to be based on whether the facts known or believed turned to to be true: if they were true then the defendant knew them to be true, if they were false the defendant believed them to be true.