One inspired by the actual crime (8)
I believe the answer is:
thievery
'crime' is the definition.
(thievery is a kind of crime)
'one inspired by the actual' is the wordplay.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'inspired by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters breathed in or 'inspired' by others).
'actual' becomes 'very' (synonyms).
'i' put into 'the' is 'thie'.
'thie'+'very'='THIEVERY'
(Other definitions for thievery that I've seen before include "wicked act" , "plagiarism?" , "crime" , "Act of stealing" , "criminal activity" .)