Theft by finding

[Quik 10]

I had over ten grands worth of stuff nicked from a vehicle break in and the police wouldn't send anyone out, I doubt they would thank you for asking them to trace the rightful owner of a random unmarked tenner.

[truman 10]

I had over ten grands worth of stuff nicked from a vehicle break in and the police wouldn't send anyone out, I doubt they would thank you for asking them to trace the rightful owner of a random unmarked tenner.

 

No-one is asking them to find the owner...

[bookbinder 10]

Has anybody lost a tenner by the way

[Mr Bloke 1,445]

Has anybody lost a tenner by the way

You could try the Manor Operatic Society...

[bookbinder 10]

Good answer i like that one

[Thorpist 72]

If I was to find a bicycle on my lawn which I then handed into the police after what length of time if it was unclaimed could I claim it.

If having been given the bicycle by the police and then sell it could the original owner claim it back and who would be the loser.

[Cyclone 10]

After 6 months you are able to claim the item.

 

I've no idea what would happen if the original owner then pops up and can prove it's there's...

 

I suspect that legally it is still the property of the original owner and that they can reclaim the item.

I doubt that any crime has been committed though.

 

But the person who bought it ends up out of pocket... Just speculation though.

[Flanker7 20]

If you see the person drop it then obviously its 'theft by finding' whatever it is..

 

 

If you don't .....

It depends what it is. (values below are guesses not rules)

Cash money up to about £2 - taking steps to find the owner may amount to standing on the spot and looking around.

Cash money £2 to £40? - Phone the Police and tell them that you have it and are looking after it. If the owner turns up you can give it back.

A wad of £40+? - I would still try to do the above but the Police may come round and take it for safe keeping.

 

Identifiable property like a diamond ring would probably be claimed but I would still only phone up.

 

p.s. Perhaps the legal eagles on here would like to speculate on the position if you put it in your bank and the actual note, or whatever, would be undetectable in the banks tills.

[yorky15 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.

 

Theft by finding occurs when someone who chances upon an object which seems abandoned takes possession of the object but fails to take steps to establish whether the object is abandoned and not merely lost or unattended. In some jurisdictions the crime is called "larceny by finding" or "stealing by finding"

If the owner has renounced all property rights in the object, then the property is abandoned. Since theft is the unlawful taking of another person's property, an essential element of the actus reus of theft is absent.

 

The finder of lost property acquires a possessory right by taking physical control of the property, but does not necessarily have ownership of the property. The finder must take reasonable steps to locate the owner.

If the finder shows that reasonable steps to find the owner have been taken then the finder may establish that the required mens rea for theft, the intention to deprive the owner permanently, is absent.

Edited December 15, 2015 by yorky15

[choogling 14]

Has anybody lost a tenner by the way

 

yes I lost one recently could you post it back to me ta.

[Obelix 11]

If you see the person drop it then obviously its 'theft by finding' whatever it is..

 

 

If you don't .....

It depends what it is. (values below are guesses not rules)

Cash money up to about £2 - taking steps to find the owner may amount to standing on the spot and looking around.

Cash money £2 to £40? - Phone the Police and tell them that you have it and are looking after it. If the owner turns up you can give it back.

A wad of £40+? - I would still try to do the above but the Police may come round and take it for safe keeping.

 

Identifiable property like a diamond ring would probably be claimed but I would still only phone up.

 

p.s. Perhaps the legal eagles on here would like to speculate on the position if you put it in your bank and the actual note, or whatever, would be undetectable in the banks tills.

 

Money is fungible and the note itself is the property of the issuer, be that the BoE or the Scots/Irish issuing banks. I'm not therefore sure that the note "vanishing" has any significance therefore.

[999tigger 10]

Thorp the bicyle given to the police and then to you after 6 months would be fine as you could claim you had taken all reasonable steps and that would absolve you of the dihonestly appropriated aspect to prevent it being theft.

 

If the original owner came along, then as long as they could show it wasnt abandoned then they could make a further claim on it. They would have to prove they had better title.

 

Flanker the banknote into the bank account would make no difference. Its still theft. It might prove more difficult to show you had it in your possession.

 

I just noted the police have changed their rules and only taken in lost property under very limited circumstances.

Edited December 15, 2015 by 999tigger