Theft by finding

[bookbinder 10]

What is theft by finding ,what happened to finders keepers losers weepers, if you find a tenner on the floor is this theft by finding.

[truman 10]

What is theft by finding ,what happened to finders keepers losers weepers, if you find a tenner on the floor is this theft by finding.

 

Well it's not yours is it?...I think you'd have to take steps to find the owner,I suppose you could hand it in to a police station and if no-one claimed it within a certain time then it'd be yours..

Sorry it's only a wiki but....

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theft_by_finding

[geared 299]

It's usually used when they suspect you've stolen something, but there isn't quite enough evidence to make it stick.

 

The person charged puts forward the story "oh well I just found it on the ground"

 

The police can then say, well since you made no attempt to 'hand it in' then it's theft by finding.

[sgtkate 10]

Technically. It all comes down to what you were thinking at the time. Really hard to explain. I know this isn't directly related to your question but it's the best way I can explain:

 

Your neighbour borrows your lawnmower with your permission.

They break it and refuse to pay to fix it or replace it.

You go around the their property and take a bicycle of similar value, sell it, and repair your lawnmower.

 

You thought you were legally justified in doing that as you were only getting the value of your property back. You would be unlikely to be charged with theft in this case. If you'd taken something of much greater value and pocketed the difference, then it would be theft as you've changed the overall balance of the situation.

 

Now, with a £10 on the street, you would have to be able to prove that you made nearby enquiries as to the owner and these failed therefore the odds of finding the owner of the tenner is so remote that it cannot be classed of theft as there HAS to be a rightful owner in the first place for you to be able to steal something.

 

Short answer, you find a tenner on the road, it's yours and not theft. You find a wallet on the road with a tenner in an a drivers license, it IS theft as that identifies the likely owner.

 

Law is HARD.

[Cyclone 10]

What is theft by finding ,what happened to finders keepers losers weepers, if you find a tenner on the floor is this theft by finding.

 

Yes it is theft, and finders keepers is a child's rhyme.

[Obelix 11]

Technically. It all comes down to what you were thinking at the time. Really hard to explain. I know this isn't directly related to your question but it's the best way I can explain:

 

Your neighbour borrows your lawnmower with your permission.

They break it and refuse to pay to fix it or replace it.

You go around the their property and take a bicycle of similar value, sell it, and repair your lawnmower.

 

You thought you were legally justified in doing that as you were only getting the value of your property back. You would be unlikely to be charged with theft in this case. If you'd taken something of much greater value and pocketed the difference, then it would be theft as you've changed the overall balance of the situation.

 

Now, with a £10 on the street, you would have to be able to prove that you made nearby enquiries as to the owner and these failed therefore the odds of finding the owner of the tenner is so remote that it cannot be classed of theft as there HAS to be a rightful owner in the first place for you to be able to steal something.

 

Short answer, you find a tenner on the road, it's yours and not theft. You find a wallet on the road with a tenner in an a drivers license, it IS theft as that identifies the likely owner.

 

Law is HARD.

 

I dont know where all that came from but it's so wrong it is rather worrying.

 

Go round to a house and remove a bicycle, that will get you charged with burglary as well as theft. You dont get to right a civil wrong by a criminial one.

 

Tenner on the road? The only legal recourse apart from leaving it there, is to hand it in to the local police station. After a suitable period of time it's yours. Makes no odds if it's in a wallet or not.

 

Theft is the dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with an intent to permanantly deprive the owner of it.

[sgtkate 10]

I dont know where all that came from but it's so wrong it is rather worrying.

 

Go round to a house and remove a bicycle, that will get you charged with burglary as well as theft. You dont get to right a civil wrong by a criminial one.

 

Tenner on the road? The only legal recourse apart from leaving it there, is to hand it in to the local police station. After a suitable period of time it's yours. Makes no odds if it's in a wallet or not.

 

Theft is the dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with an intent to permanantly deprive the owner of it.

 

From a police training course...And it was an actual case in Sheffield where the guy wasn't charged. The lawnmower case anyway. Not the tenner one. Another one for you:

 

A guy walked into Boots and took a tester bottle of perfume. He was not charged with theft. Why? Because the bottle said 'feel free to try' he genuinely thought he was ok to take it with him. Law is about guilty act AND guilty mind. Seriously if the police CANNOT prove you intended to steal something and understood what you were doing was theft then they cannot charge you. In theory you could get away with shooting someone if you could prove you didn't realise it was wrong. You'd probably be sectioned mind you instead.

 

---------- Post added 15-12-2015 at 12:08 ----------

 

Basic definition of theft:

 

A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it; and “thief” and “steal” shall be construed accordingly.

 

Key word: dishonestly - meaning knew it was wrong

[bookbinder 10]

Well i am going with the childs story and if i find a tenner on the floor i am going to keep it ,because if i go and ask have you lost a tenner they are going to say yes say thanks and put it in there pocket

[imjustagirl 10]

Whilst I wouldn't feel comfortable pocketing the tenner,it would cost more money in my time,and even in police time to hand it in.

And then what are the odds of someone actually phoning the Police over a lost tenner?,so that's more Police time booking the thing back out again.

Stick it in a charity box:P

[sgtkate 10]

I'm honestly a little confused now. I would have sworn we were taught about whether finding a tenner on the street would be considered theft by police and were told no unless the finder knew where it had come from. Appears my memory is tarnished. However, there haven't been any prosecution I couldn't find for finding and keeping small amounts of money found on the street.

 

The other 2 cases were genuine though.

 

---------- Post added 15-12-2015 at 12:26 ----------

 

Whilst I wouldn't feel comfortable pocketing the tenner,it would cost more money in my time,and even in police time to hand it in.

And then what are the odds of someone actually phoning the Police over a lost tenner?,so that's more Police time booking the thing back out again.

Stick it in a charity box:P

 

Yeah that's what I'd do if I was under £50. Over that I probably would hand it into the police but god knows what they'd do to find the owner!

[Cyclone 10]

From a police training course...And it was an actual case in Sheffield where the guy wasn't charged. The lawnmower case anyway. Not the tenner one. Another one for you:

 

A guy walked into Boots and took a tester bottle of perfume. He was not charged with theft. Why? Because the bottle said 'feel free to try' he genuinely thought he was ok to take it with him. Law is about guilty act AND guilty mind. Seriously if the police CANNOT prove you intended to steal something and understood what you were doing was theft then they cannot charge you. In theory you could get away with shooting someone if you could prove you didn't realise it was wrong. You'd probably be sectioned mind you instead.

 

---------- Post added 15-12-2015 at 12:08 ----------

 

Basic definition of theft:

 

A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it; and “thief” and “steal” shall be construed accordingly.

 

Key word: dishonestly - meaning knew it was wrong

 

Taking property to pay for a disputed debt is still theft. The correct response would be a small claims action and to never lend them anything again.

 

The Boots case is different of course, taking something that you believe is being given away is not theft, if you genuinely believe it and can convince a jury the same. Would you believe that a tenner on the floor had been 'given away'?

Taking £10 that doesn't belong to you is quite clearly wrong. The correct action is as Obelix said to hand it in (or at least phone and report that you have found it), otherwise you're stealing it by finding.

 

---------- Post added 15-12-2015 at 12:29 ----------

 

Well i am going with the childs story and if i find a tenner on the floor i am going to keep it ,because if i go and ask have you lost a tenner they are going to say yes say thanks and put it in there pocket

 

As would most people I think.

 

Although I've seen someone drop a twenty, picked it up and handed it back to them... To do otherwise would be theft.

If, on the other hand, I found a twenty as I walked into the pub, I might ask at the bar if anyone had said they'd lost money (I'd not say how much), but if the answer was no, I'd buy a round.

[sgtkate 10]

Taking property to pay for a disputed debt is still theft. The correct response would be a small claims action and to never lend them anything again.

 

The Boots case is different of course, taking something that you believe is being given away is not theft, if you genuinely believe it and can convince a jury the same. Would you believe that a tenner on the floor had been 'given away'?

Taking £10 that doesn't belong to you is quite clearly wrong. The correct action is as Obelix said to hand it in (or at least phone and report that you have found it), otherwise you're stealing it by finding.

 

As I say I can remember thinking that theft laws were insanely complex for all but the most basic of cases. The main point we were told is to think about why the person did this. Did they have and honest held belief that they were entitled to take the actions they did. Would other people believe those actions were reasonable and appropriate. Hence why lawyers earn such good money as they can use this legal grey area to the advantage, on either side of the bench.

 

---------- Post added 15-12-2015 at 12:30 ----------

 

So thinking about it further, clearly finding the tenner on the street wouldn't give them an honest held belief they were entitled to it, so it must be theft by my own logic!