Knocking on a door of a house with intent to rob its occupants and, upon the door being opened, rushing into the house constitutes 'constructive breaking' at common law and for the purposes of s 112 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). A gambling addiction that motivates an offence may be found to be an explanation for the offence but not a mitigating factor, where a causal connection between the disorder and the offending has not been established on the balance of probabilities. The Court reiterated that s 112 should attract the attention of law reformers to remove the anachronistic requirement of 'breaking'.
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