Crime of a criminal (7)

I believe the answer is:

offence

'crime' is the definition.
(offence is a kind of crime)

'of a criminal' is the wordplay.
'a criminal' becomes 'fence' (I've seen this before).
'of'+'fence'='OFFENCE'

(Other definitions for offence that I've seen before include "Transgression" , "Criminal action" , "taken by one insulted" , "Misdeed" , "The action of attacking an enemy" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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