Woman Tesco Theft By Finding Waffle – One persons trash is another persons treasure…until you get arrested for ‘Theft By Finding’ that is!
Imagine you are finding it hard to get by, struggling with rent payments and mounting bills. You pass by a supermarket that has thrown out loads of food after having had a power cut. What do you do? Like anyone in such a situation, you make the most of things that are only going to waste. You take the trashed food home to feed your family. Am I wrong?
Woman Tesco Theft By Finding Waffle
That is exactly what Sasha Hall did and now she has been arrested on suspicion of theft by finding. The 21 year old woman, from Great Baddow, Essex, helped herself to helped herself to potato waffles, pies and ham from outside her local Tesco Express. Ms Hall was one of dozens of people who helped themselves to food that had been bagged up and left out on the street.
She was then shocked when Police arrived at her door, handcuffed her, and led her away like a serious criminal.
When the police came round I was so upset. I felt like a terrible criminal.’They knocked at the door and said if I didn’t open up they would use a battering ram,’ she said. They handcuffed me and treated me like I was a hardened criminal and when we left they raided my house. I haven’t got lots of money. I only make £600 a month. I’m on the brink of getting kicked out of my flat because I can’t pay my arrears.
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I’m not sure about you, but this kinds makes me sick to the stomach. Not only is the Tesco motto ‘Every Little Helps’, but they had thrown the food out to waste. A Tesco spokesman said: ‘We are assisting the police with their inquiries. We seek to minimise waste in all our stores and where possible will seek to reuse and recycle it.’
There was £3,000 worth of food going to waste on the street,’ she told the Essex Chronicle. ‘It had been thrown out, so I thought I could put it to better use. I would think the police have better things to be doing with their time than going after people who pick up potato waffles from the street. It’s all been blown totally out of proportion. Tesco clearly did not want the food. They dumped it and rather than see it go to waste, I thought I could help feed me and my family for a week or two.
Woman Tesco Theft By Finding Waffle – Ms Hall is to appear in magistrates court on February 16 charged with theft by finding. Is this right?
I guess that’ll go to Court and then…………..more waffle methinks
There is an issue of theft in this case. Theft is the dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with intent to permanently deprive the owner of it. It has been held that goods thrown out by traders/households are not abandoned and without ownership, therefore taking goods from skips/dustbins is theft if, and it is an important if, the taker knows the goods are not abandonded. Few members of the public are aware that goods apparently abandoned in fact belong to someone. If the lady in this case believed the waffles were abandonded and without ownership, she is not dishonest as defined by the Theft Act 1968. One could put this issue before the court but unless there are facts indicating that the lady knew the waffles were not abandoned, the prosecution will fail after much legal waffle.
So are you for or against prosecuting this lady for what she did?
How can she be guilty if tesco’s dumped food on the street. I don’t believe tesco’s lame excuse about recycling waste food. By the way I work as a full time volunteer for a homeless service provider here in Portsmouth. Surely there has to be a hostel, night shelter, or drop in day centre for the unemployed or a local church or charity offering a soup run or soup kitchen or food bank for the needy. Tesco’s have only confirmed their contemt and lack of understanding for consumer’s by their own action’s.
Ha, thanks Spitmunk.
I would love to hear more waffle in the discussion forum.
did anyone else spot the typo ‘helped herself to, helped herself to’ ?? if your paying these guys ill have a job proof reading
I think you might want to check up on that before you apply for the job! There is a reason that only you noticed it…
Theft by finding is where you find something that was dropped etc. What this woman did is not theft, you can not steal something that was thrown away. ( Explained to me by a Magistraite). Cop on Tesco/Police, stop waisting our money.
Agreed, Mickybob.
“what the hell is happening to this country that we arrest and charge the poor for taking away someone’s trash?”
while i agree there’s no way this case is right, and she shouldn’t get done for it, but seriously, i think people can be done for tacking away someone elses trash, it’s called identity fraud, but going through peoples bins & taking bags of food outside tescos are 2 different things.
The companies make money off of selling the trash to bio gas dumps and selling the recyclables. In CA they made it against the law to go through other people’s trash and take the recyclables years ago. Trash is now worth money. I do not think the one should be charged if there was no sign saying they were selling the trash.
If you threw something in your bin and someone took it you would call the police – going onto someone’s property to take something regardless of whether it is a supermarket or your home is trespassing
No, Sue, I would not. Surely we must be allowed to exercise some common sense. Do I call the police every week when the refuse crew take it? I threw it out which means I have no use for it anymore. If someone else can find use for it then all the better.
how stupid there wasting our money they should be searching for murders etc not someone taking food which has been thrown out. i would of done the same times are hard at the mo. i dont see the big deal tesco didnt want the food or couldnt sell it coz they had a power cut or watever and throw it out but they didnt want the lady to take it. it doesnt make sense wat happened to waste not want not??????
Waste not want not indeed. Why would Tesco not have been more responsible and donated the food as opposed to just chucking it out?
Its the HEALTH & SAFETY aspect & the possibility of food poisoning etc. Lots of charities/soup kitchens used to benefit from this source of free food.However now it seems big business is worried about getting taken to court for damages by some poor homeless or needy person.Simple way would be to sign something which placating the stores from any blame if anything did happen.Not everyones out to make money.Im sure most would be happy just to get a free munch!
For the police it’s another crime solved, another tick in a box. Much easier to arrest someone like her than someone that may put up a struggle etc….
The orginal article in the Daily Mail states lots of people helped themselves, so why was she singled out (how was she found) what about all the other people that helped themselves?? Something odd here. Did anyone watch the BBC program Great British Waste Menu?? Where the chefs on that did similar things??
Times are hard, i bring leftover buffets home from my office to feed my children sometimes.
AND FOR THE RECORD – I HAVE NO PROBLEM HER DOING WHAT SHE DID!!
I think the woman should be comended for reducing the burdon on landfill sites, isnt there also a movement called “freegans?”, I too worked in a shopping centre and saw thousands of pounds of food beeing thrown out, some of which I helped myself too. As a matter of interest, was the food disguarded on the street or in an enclosed area of private property?… that will be the legal issue I think…
I agree with you but do you agree the staff who threw the stuff out should br done for littering or fly tipping? When i worked for Tesco and Sainsburys years ago the waste was put in big bins so nobody could get at it and the shop was re embersed for written off stock amyway
It sounds to me that the staff that threw it out could have wanted it themselves and a bit annoyed when this lady and others get to it first. There is some company policies that stop staff from being able to have this food due to the fact that they could deliberately mark down and claim that food needs wasting just to claim it in this way, therefore it has to be disposed of. But to be bagged as well…ready for collection. Hmmm sounds suspicious to me lol
ok if this is the case then why can the police take things they find in plane site as evidence with out a warrant things that have been throne out as rubbish or when they go through peoples bins looking for evidence same as the department dss going through your bins looking for evidence of the way you live and taking things out of your bin when its on the street and no one say anything about that you can`t have it always
here is another case of over reaction at best this woman should have got a verbal warning.
ok its theft but common sense should have pevailed.
but of course this is an easy one for the police ,helps their crime clear up rate!
catching and getting convictions on real criminals takes brains and ability!
sadly this type of crime and the motorist are all that the british police are capable of today!
as for tesco they cannot give away food that they deem unfit for sale as if anyone should get food poisning they are liable.
but they could easily say they do not wish this woman to be prosecuted
There is a lot of mixed opinion about this story. You are the second person to suggest that this has something do do with increasing crimes solved figures. Please feel free to voice your opinion further in our discussion.
Thanks for your comment, Arthur.
This is shocking that this woman is treated as a criminal Why was,nt tesco fined for dumping the food there in the first place.
Great point, Kevin. Also, why were they not more responsible? Just to throw food out like that…what a waste.
@ Adam Vallance February 11, 2011 at 3:26 pm #
For the police it’s another crime solved, another tick in a box. Much easier to arrest someone like her than someone that may put up a struggle etc….
Spot on
@Vet February 11, 2011 at 3:28 pm #
It does, doesn’t it.
A complete waste of police time.
Without even going into the ins and outs of the legality here what strikes me is why the hell were tesco bothered. Youve thrown it out, its gone written off why do they care enough to persue prosecution for someone other than the council removing their rubbish. Would they have also tried to have a stray dog or pigeon arrested if it had taken these items. What a load of tosh.
as a serving police officer I would never arrest any person under these circumstances and I know of no colleague who would do so. the problem with these and similar reports are that the full facts are never known. the arrested person gets to tell the world how they have been the subject of a police ‘over reaction’ etc whilst the police will never comment or seek to provide a fuller picture because they cannot. to do so would be pre-judicial. from my experiences when you hear of such things there are usually other significant issues. if for example a person in such circs had been repeatedly warned that the food was not to be taken would that make a difference? also all police officers are required to explain why it was necessary to ‘arrest’ somebody before that person is accepted into custody. often persons refuse to answer questions on a voluntary basis and so arrest becomes the only option. crimes are just as easily ‘detected’ without arrest. i’m sure we can all agree that taking something that has been thrown away should not be something that in itself requires police involvement but there is usually always more to these reports.
as regard police taking things as evidence… the power to seize things as evidence is well established in common law and pace.
Well, Gary, thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I always do like to hear both sides of any debate. You make a very valid point in regards to the police power to seize things, but I am pleased to see that you side with common sense, as I am sure your colleagues do too.
What do you see the outcome of this as being? A slap on the wrist and a waste of everyone’s time?
I used to work for Tesco’s and all the waste food etc there was put in the crusher thereby such actions were avoided, if the food was left in public view what were Tesco’s playing at , in my opinion the manager of the store should be repremanded. Why wasn’t the food waste put in the disposal bin and why is it just this one lady who is being possibly prosecuted. If the prosecution goes ahead Tesco’s should be made to foot the bil and not the taxpayers AGAIN. Lets hope commonsense prevails and the case is dropped we can but hope.
Thanks to you also, Malc. Another good viewpoint here.
Nigel, on the circumstances as they appear here and with no other extenuating or aggravating factors i suspect this will be what’s called ‘nfa’d’ (no further action) as not in the public interest to pursue or offence not made out (ie all the legal elements required to prove a theft are not there)…a giant waste of time for all concerned because the parties involved were unable or unwilling to compromise or use a bit of commonsense in the first place and the poor beat officer who made the arrest had his hand forced! welcome to policing in britain today.
I feel for you guys, I really do! Thank once again Gary…for you comments, and for putting yourself on the line.
we leave our representatives (except , may be 2) when they swindle our money,
we feed people and are powerless to arrest them , leave alone throw them out,
we provide BENEFITS to people who abuse the system,
and
WHAT ARE WE DOING TO THE HONEST POOR?
pick the trash………..you are treated like one!
GOD ……….NEED TO HELP us
The trouble with common sense is that it is not that common. I hope this does go to court and the judge sitting sees it for the farce that it is and gives TESCO a large fine for wasting the police and the courts time!
this is stupid, why would anyone need to be arrested for eating food off the floor?
surely if its been left ouside it cant be sold?
so whats the big fuss about?
this is a huge waste of everones time and shouldnt have happened
I also hope he awards her a large sum for compensation for the distress it must have caused her.
Amazing isn’t it that the Police and CPS always seem to find the time and energy to pursue these kind of rediculous cases.
If you get stabbed or robbed while out shopping they won’t have the resource to deal with it though.
It’s a rediculous waste of police time if we’re hearing the full story but even if she was charged with thievery, I bet that it was probably reported because of the mess no doubt at least one of them left. Dozens of people swarming for free food? I doubt they waited nicely in line behind each other, hell, sometimes the poor person stacking the reduced aisle gets ambushed before they can even place it.
Hypocrisy rains. Will Tesco or the public pay for police time and court case? And i see here a good case against TESCO for endangering public health by unsafe disposal of out of legal health safety limits food. A good lawyer will make decent profit of it.
If this is theft, then when parents give their children food from the shopping trolley to keep them quiet while shopping before they get to the tills then isn’t that similar, especially if the food needs to be weighed at the tills!?
It seems pretty crazy..but we dont kno the full circumstances the products in question could have been preped for pick up to be transferred to another store to sell and held in a private area .. it doesnt make sense that a supermarket would bag refuse and leave it on the street if they were chucking it they have industrail waste recipticals for stuff like that…so if thats the case then its all a perspective thing but no actually diffrent than going into the store and helping themselves..for which people would not be so in sympathy with.
i am disabled and in receipt of benefits, and i would of done the same as the young lady who took the waffles, isn’t it about time the police started to do proper police work and start catching criminals, and not picking on innocent women. what’s next, beating up old aged pensioners and disabled people for finding something that someone has discarded, i bet if it was a titled person the police would of helped them home with it. as the song goes ” the lunatics have taken over the asylum”, i hope the young lady gets a public apology and compensation for the stress they put her though.
We all no that tesco has conquered the world. lf this was a corner shop l doubt it would have been taken seriously. lm so disgusted at tesco – it seems to me they say jump and the answer is, how high – this woman is innocent – for gods sake let common sense prevail.
that is the tescos law
I think tesco to be taken to court by health and safety for living such food open and easy to collate by any person it can be very dangerous to some ones health this lady is not in resion to break law she did not still. Food was thrown away anyway SORRY FOR MY ENGLISH
@ Adam Vallance
“Did anyone watch the BBC program Great British Waste Menu?? Where the chefs on that did similar things??”
No, the Chefs in that production approached all the franchises involved to ask if they could take the food, they did not simply swan up and help themselves they were also advised against taking the food. Also they had everything tested to make sure it was safe for human consumption and anything not biologically appropriate was disposed of even for all intent purpose it looked and seemed “fine”
I’m sure if Sasha hall or her family were poisoned or affected by this food in any way they would take legal action against Tesco, anyone who denies that is just nieve, therefore the company has (as Arthur stated) a duty of care that none of the food is consumed by the public. If it takes a story like this to put it into the public eye then so be it.
I have to say I’m also surprised at the amount of people having a go at the police, the police are just doing a job that they are employed for, I’m sure at times we all question somthing that our boss asks us to do, we don’t know the inn’s and outs of the story but alot of the posters are very quick to jump on the “what a waste of police time” bandwagon they obviously have no idea how much time police officers have to spend in court cases or writing up reports for trivial mis demeanors similar to this. Get off your high horse people. This is not the first “waste of police time” we’ve had and it won’t be the last.
What is she found a wallet with money in it on the ground and kept it to buy food for her starving family? would that be ok? of course not, but it’s the same thing I’m afraid. She took somthing from the street that didn’t belong to her and kept it, when you simplify it thats all it comes down too.
‘What is she found a wallet with money in it on the ground and kept it to buy food for her starving family? would that be ok? of course not, but it’s the same thing I’m afraid. She took somthing from the street that didn’t belong to her and kept it, when you simplify it thats all it comes down too.’
No it is not the same thing, have some perspective, If you find a wallet with money in it, you know that has not been thrown away as rubbish and it will mean you have no defence if in you spend the money. This article states ‘Ms Hall was one of dozens of people who helped themselves to food that had been bagged up and left out on the street.’ So she does have a defence rotting food is not lost it’s thrown away…… Your scenario of finding a wallet with money in it and then spending it is hardly the same, be honest, is it?
the young lady should be praised by Tesco for taking away their rubbish for free,Tesco should be prosecuted for leaving this type of rubbish[foodstuff] on the street-was it clearly marked not for human consumption- food waste?
Enviromental health should be looking into Tescos illegal practices concerning food waste
This is not theft by finding. I am a former police crime auditor and under the Theft Act 1968 anyone who has relinquished their rights to property by effectively throwing it away (discarding it) cannot say it is theft since it then has no rightful owner. No owner, not theft! Think of it by someone removing an item from a dustbin that it waiting for collection – ownership has been relinquished. If it’s in the back of the bin lorry ownership has passed to the local authority and its removal could be argued as theft, but never in this case.
it took months of high court rangling to decide what to do about MPs and expenses yet only a few hours to arrest the poor for eating rubbish
I’ts clear to me that IDIOTIC Tesco wants people to waste their money in their shops rather than getting free food on their bins. They should be fined for not dissposing their unwanted food properly so ordinary people can’t access it. When your stomac is empty you go to extremes to get food …..this is one of those cases.
Seriously if this woman did that at the supermarket where I work, we wouldn’t be bothered at all. She’d have to go riffling through the bins though, but she wouldn’t be charged with anything.
I think it’s the tesco’s people being petty and they should apologise for the distress they’ve caused.
How ridiculous! Tesco are wasting produce that could be put to good use instead of thrown away!! A lot of our local stores have a deal with the local homeless shelter, that in the event of them having to dispose of large amounts of food through freezers breaking down etc, they give it to the homeless shelter.
Once food has been put out for disposal I do not see it as theft if someone takes it away. What is the world coming to??
Tesco should recycle anywhich way they can and if that means allowing people to take away what they put out to be thrown away, so be it!!!!!
I don’t shop at Tesco as a rule!!
Am I the only person who thinks that there is a bit more to this story?
Firstly, if she was one of many taking the goods left outside of tesco’s then why has none of the others been accussed of theft?
Secondly, she states that the Police came to her house and arrested her, how did they know who she was and where she lived?
Maybe its just me, but my instincts tell me that there is much more to this story and I for one would be very interested to hear the otherside. Until this happens we should all keep an open mind, after all none of us know if this lady is known to the police or even if Tescos have had dealings with her before for similar or other kind of problems
Also why does so many people slate the police when storys like this come to light, if Tesco’s have put a complaint in to the Police and they themselves want to prosecute then I would think that the police are doing there job.
There are people on the streets of this country, finding it hard to even find a meal. There are families so below the breadline that no matter how hard they try their kids don’t get fed good food.
Tesco had the choice to give that food to a shelter or other worthy cause (I know M&S did in the past give what didn’t sell to shelters).
In an ideal world Tesco should be fined for their behaviour of wasting this good food and they should be ashamed. They were never going to take it back and wanted it to get thrown out so they should be happy some went to people who needed it. The only problem being the health and safety perhaps of them supplying people with off food in some way.
With the police cutting numbers you’d think they would have sorted this out in a much more efficient manner, but every crime is a crime and they must investigate.
It just seems strange when my car was smashed up by vandals it took them 3 days to bother to come over and finger print the car, but take something which was being thrown out and going rotten, well thats much more of a problem I suppose!
I am not usually one to complain but this is outragous. I have complained direct to tesco and created a group on facebook and posted to my wall in the hope that in the next 5 days we can get some sense out of the situation. Long shot I know but worth a try.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_153805714673099
https://www.tescohelp.com/tesco/forms/cs_form.html
The relentless march of Tesco is rather like the War of the Worlds, with their alien visitation into the Heartlands and the stripping back of local culture into a mechanized dream of cheap food, fed constantly through a diet of paternalistic chummy clap trap advertising, aspiring to offer everything provided by nature or invented by Man. Their true face can now be revealed, and we can no doubt look forward to a further consolidation by their legal teams to enhance and protect their commercial aims with this inevitable sacrifice of the “guilty” individual.
Before anyone starts setting up groups about the above story, I think the FULL facts need to be heard.
Two sides to every story!
its a sorry state of affairs when people are so poor they have to lower themselves to this level, in todays modern world , this type of hardship is not needed
In reply to Johns message, my husband and i have worked non stop since the 1960′s and just before Christmas he was diagnosed with a rare tumor.His driving licence was susspended so out went his job and income, so we are living on bennifits too but all the bills still have to be paid and on my wages [i work 3days a week we have had to use up our savings ] and still don’t know if we are getting any benifits, This may be the 21st century but the only way to get anything in thiscountry these days is to arrive by fishing boat and say the well known phrase [ME NO UNDERSTAN] then you get it all If you have lived and worked in this country all your life no one wants to know.
I am very surprised that Tesco reported this to the police at all considering they are breach of the law themselves if the details of this story are accurate.
I work in the food retail industry and if you have an equipment breakdown that results in a large amount of food becoming unfit for sale then that food has top be disposed of in a proper manner.
For a small retailer this would mean calling their local council/environmental health department in order to arrange for said food to be disposed of properly.
A large Tesco superstore may have adequate procedures in place to deal with the disposal of this amount of food product but I very much doubt that a Tesco Express does.
Isnt there something about things being thrown away being in the public domain as witnessed by police going through bins as the owners have discarded them. perhaps its Tesco who should be prosecuted
as someone who works for tesco and knows what waste can be like i have to say i see no problem with Ms Halls actions and would do the same my self in her situation
I think she should be stoned and have her hands chopped off!
oops sorry thats Iran isnt it?
I thought We were a civilised country,we should take care of
the poor and hungry. Feed them dont FINE the!
I’m wondering how the Police knew where to go to find this woman. She says others were also there, were they also hunted down and arrested?
One of the defences in respect of a charge of theft is that if the accused proves that they believed that they would have had the owners consent in the appropriation of the goods/trash. It doesn’t matter if the owner wouldn’t have consented, but taking everythng into account it draws on the mindset of the accused.
Sure we all know that stealing is against the law. Surely though in this circumstance ,it was re-cycling unwanted food. To be honest ,is Tesco not just as responsible for this,as they chose to leave these items in the street, you cant blame folk who can use it for taking it. Surely Tesco could have called their local homeless unit to offer them the food for distribution? I think that they should remember there are a lot of families in Britain living on the breadline , and should live up to their motto of ,every little helps , and by donating this food it would have helped so many .Shame on Tesco if they follow through with any prosecutions for this , wonder if anyone else is being prosecuted ? Didn’t know you were allowed to leave rubbish on the street , is this not itself illegal?
what these people do not realise is that if tesco was to give food to homeless shelter or people in the streets and they became ill from this after being out of the cold chain for more than the specified time and they was ill from this they could sue the company this is why tesco has to dispose of this in a way specified by company policys
Did the lady not question whether or not the food was actually fit for consumption?
Most frozen food which has thawed is not suitable for refreezing and has to be consumed within a certain time scale. If they lady suffered food poisoning from eating the discarded food, would she of then decided to sue Tesco as well? Food which is affected by a refridgeration breakdown should be disposed of in a controlled way and as a Tesco employee, I’m suprised that this waste was in fact just left on a pavement or in a public place, in the store where I work, (an Express) we have locking bins in a secure yard.
here is another case of over reaction at best this woman should have got a verbal warning.
ok its theft but common sense should have pevailed.
but of course this is an easy one for the police ,helps their crime clear up rate!
catching and getting convictions on real criminals takes brains and ability!
sadly this type of crime and the motorist are all that the british police are capable of today!
as for tesco they cannot give away food that they deem unfit for sale as if anyone should get food poisning they are liable.
but they could easily say they do not wish this woman to be prosecuted
My wife works for Tesco, she tells me that food that is close to it’s sell by date can be marked down to as little as 1p, hence sometimes I find about 20 loaves of bread appear in the freezer.
However my wife also says that food that is deemed as waste is thrown into the bins at the back of the store, within an enclosed compound, NEVER left on the street out in front of the store, always within an enclosed waste bin ready for waste collection.
If this woman and others had taken waste food from my wifes store they would have firstly needed to enter private property at the rear of the store that backs onto the warehouse, this has a locked gate.
So we have to ask where did the woman and others actually take the food from? and is this the real reason why Tesco is making a fuss? if the waste had been dumped in plain sight at the front of the store and on the pavement (Highly doubtful for such a large popular and busy store) then yes I would agree the woman should not have been arrested, but if the waste was in a secure compound as it is supposed to be then I have to side with the store, it would be akin to someone walking into your backyard and taking what that person could assume as waste, yet you would consider it your property.
looking at the pic if its the right one i doubt if they a got a compound out the back thats y it was dumped out front but that does not mater what a wast of police time she should not get done for it this country is getting worse its about time we all stuck up for hour rights
its tesco who are RUBBISH.what happened to all thier COMMUITY rubbish talk.
they should be calling charities etc in the local area.instead for a few crusts they call
in the y call in police who are gifted with an easy lie down job for the rest of the day.
ws the mitake it was the MANAGERS bonus.reporters on tv have took this food
in the ,nothing said by TESCOS or smash door down heavies.no hsem jasem.used again. TESCO fly tipping.ok.
Wasn’t there a T.V. programme recently about the £3 million worth of food throw out by the population and Tesco worry about a waffle.Does Tesco deduct all the food thrown out from their vast profits so the nation can see the real profits Tesco make ?
People still arn’t grasping the fact that Tesco would be held liable if any of that food was contaminated or brought harm to a consumer. Saying “it could have gone to a shelter” or “it’s terrible that Tesco are wasting all this food” is trivial, the health and safty authority make the rules and they are put there for a reason, if a chill unit failed the produce is for waste disposal not fit for human consumtion. The products were wasted for a reason if it was fine to eat it would have stayed on the shelves.
At the end of the day like Stacey said, there is more to the story than published so far therefore people shouldn’t really judge this incident at face value. Would all the protesters be happy if it was someone going through their rubbish for food? Why don’t you take your leftover lunch or dinner plates to a homless shelter? Get off your high horse people and stop bad mouthing the police and prosecuters for doing the job they are paid for. If you don’t like it vote for a different Government next time.
Patmcrotch………………….your clearly an idiot. Enough said!
Thanks for your input it must have taken you atleast 20 minutes to think that one up.
There is a law against theft by finding for a reason, if there wasn’t it would be ok wouldn’t it?
V……..everyone is intitled to an opinion, and just because you may not agree with what that person has said, this does not give you the rights to throw insults.
Wouldn’t it of been best to have given an educated opinion/comment?
ENOUGH SAID!
Tescos a BUNCH OF C*NTS,she didnt shoplift for F*ck sake,get REAL
This case is totally-ridicolous, & hence shouldn’t even be considered for Court! It is senseless, inane, and damn-right-stupid! This is why/how lawyers (and the Law in it’s totallity) get paid so-much for so-little!
Why, oh why, can we not just bring back the ‘common-sense-element’ of, not just “the Law” but peoples-attitudes/outlook on life!
When I was brought-up – I was taught ‘such’, like: “do unto others as you would had done too yourself”!
I witness this ‘petty-mindedness’ throughout our day-too-day lives, and just ‘sit-back – (metaphorically) and think: WHY/
What the hell is wrong with tesco? They called the police after she had only took some waffles. Do tesco even know what charity is all about it is exactly the same as giving food to the poor. Plus its like police telling us don’t give unnecesary calls its just dumb arresting a woman who clearly had no food and was in debt and needed to feed her family.
“The quality of mercy…(etc)”
Presumably a first offence anyway. Would a warning have been sufficient?
The trouble is that attitudes towards big business and to the poor are back to where they were when hanging and deportation to Oz were all the rage.
If tesco threw it out – then it is no longer their property. It has been written off their books. Therefore, she was merely salvaging.
usual waste of tax payers money,you would think the police would have better things to do than frighten young woman who are struggling to make ends meet,another example of laws taking over a common sense approach to policing,what were they raiding a drug dealers house for class A waffles and cocaine cooked hams pmsl
have posted this article to my facebook page, and written an email of discontent and disgust to Tescos. Thank you for the links, (they seem to have disappeared now however? have you been told off for posting them?)
Tescos Should not have left the food waste on such a big quantity out of store accessible to the public in the first place… and yes i agree, the police have been way too harsh and could spend valuable time tackling more important tasks.
If it’s not a daft question how did the police know where this lady lived? If it was me the police would have no idea who I was, so wouldn’t know where I lived. Like Gary the police officer I suspect there is more to this than meets the eye. (Having said that on the face of it it does seem a total waste of police resources)
I cannot see what crime is being committed. If someone fell ill as a result of eating spoilt food then I doubt if anyone would be wanting to sue them after. It has much to do with our attitude in the west (personified by Pamcrotch) living off of waste seems dirty. I wouldn’t mind anyone using my waste if they felt they needed it. In India, whole communities make a living foraging through the junk piles.
If Tesco are that concerned then they should keep their waste under lock and key, not send round the heavy squad to a someone with good survival instincts.
I used to be a ‘bin raider’ especially in the mid 80s when I 1st left home aged 16.The amount of food thrown out was/is amazing.Unfortunately,now it seems big business do not like the thought of anyone getting anything for free.
I havent raided any bins for yrs now.Part of the problem is the ‘HEALTH & SAFETY’ brigade.Quite often now stores throw blue/red dye over any out of date food.Another problem is people who have taken to removing any food retrievable,leaving a mess.This has led too a lot of the larger retailers locking their rubbish bins.
Finally,although I hate to agree its theft in the eyes of the law.Just like its theft if you remove say an old chair from a rubbish skip,unless you get the skip owners approval 1st they could actually take you to court as the rubbish becomes their legal property!
small shop, the woman would have been known as a local to the staff, taking stuff like that would cause loss of normal trade/ proffit as people will not need to go to the shop, Iff its inside their property then its theft, if its outside then the store should be charged fort dumping rubbish on the street,very serious health problem with a fine in the thousands,
Well,well.Tesco is in the news again.I have just returned from Hungary,and everybody was talking about TESCO.Why?They had power shortage,but instead trowing it out,they have washed the meat product with baking soda and bleach,and back to the shelves.By the way ,is TESCO an English company?
The laws must be different everywhere because where I live in Ontario, Canada, once you put something out as garbage it becomes public domain. Anyone can go through it, take it away, just not toss it all over the street. Once something has been put out as garbage it is accepted that the item was not wanted. This women stole nothing and TESCO should be made to offer her free groceries for a year to feed her family for what they have done to this women, and put her family through.
I agree with you Lindsey.