Crime
Note the difference between the verbs: steal and rob. The object of the verb 'steal' is the thing which is taken away, e.g. they stole my bike, whereas the object of the verb 'rob' is the person or place from which things are stolen, e.g. I was robbed last night. A masked man robbed the bank. 'Steal' is irregular; steal, stole, stolen.
The table below gives the names of some other types of crimes together with their associated verbs and the name of the person who commits the crimes.
crime	definition	criminal	verb
murder	killing someone	murderer	murder
shoplifting	stealing something from a shop	shoplifter	shoplift
burglary	stealing something from someone's home	burglar	burgle
smuggling	taking something illegally into another country	smuggler	smuggle
kidnapping	taking a person hostage in exchange for money or other favours, etc.	kidnapper	kidnap
All the verbs in the table above are regular.
Here are some more useful verbs connected with crime and law. Note that many of them have particular prepositions associated with them.
Bill committed a crime when he robbed a bank. Someone witnessed the crime and told the police. The police charged him with bank robbery. They also accused his twin brother, Ben, of being his accomplice.
The case came to court and they were tried. The trial did not last very long. Bill and Ben both pleaded not guilty in court. Their lawyer did her best to defend them but the prosecuting lawyer produced a very strong case against them.
After brief deliberations, the jury passed verdict on them. They decided that Bill was guilty but Ben was innocent. The judge acquitted Ben of any involvement in the robbery but sentenced Bill to three years in prison. He also had to pay a large fine. Bill served two years in prison [jail] but was released from prison a year early. He got time off for good behaviour.
Here are some useful nouns.
trial: the legal process in court whereby an accused person is investigated, or tried, and
then found guilty or not guilty case: a crime that is being investigated
evidence: information used in a court of law to decide whether the accused is guilty or not proof: evidence that shows conclusively whether something is a fact or not judge: the person who leads a trial and decides on the sentence i.e. the punishment jury: group of twelve citizens who decide on the verdict i.e. whether the accused is guilty
or not
124     English Vocabulary in Use (Upper-intermediate)