I got someone arrested yesterday....

[VHG]

What constitutes theft from a supermarket?

I was in a local supermarket yesterday and wandreded down the alcohol aisle.

There was a guy acting very suspiciously. He had a load of cases of alcohol in his trolly (wine etc), and he had a few of those hessian shopping bags you can buy in supermakets.

He seemed to be pushing the hessian bags down all the sides of his trolly to hide the contents.

I then saw him walk down the crisps aisle putting loads of large bags of crisps on top of the wine caes, seemingly to hide the contents of the trolly.

I mentioned it to one of the supervisors and they swung into action, getting security to monitor him, and getting a few staff to stand round the exit.

I stood around the exit watching from a distance to see what went on.

After a few minutes I saw him push his trolly down an unused till aisle and go towards the exit. But then I saw to my surprise his trolly was empty.

He left the shop, but then a few shop staff grabbed him and took him back into the store and rang for the police.

I spoke to the supervisor and she said he had dumped all his stuff from the trolly in one of the aisles (he may have suspected he was being watched).

I said I thought you could only be arrested once you took the stuff out the store without paying, but she said if they could prove intent to steal that was enough.

So can you be arrested if the staff "suspect" you of shoplifting, or do you actually have to walk out the store with the stuff, without paying, before they can grab you?

Because as far as I know he did not actually steal anything, he just acted suspiciously within the store.

[DTCwordfan]

They may seek to ban him from the store at the very least. Sounds like you did prevent a major theft though, so well done.

[jake-the-peg]

Wasn't aware of that but this looks relevant

http://www.cps.gov.uk...eft_act_offences/#a10

Bet the CPS doesn't fancy it's chances though and declines to prosecute

[jake-the-peg]

:c)

Crate of wine a *major* theft?

rather depends on your perspective that doesn't it?

[douglas9401]

I wonder if the store supervisor should have been discussing events with a member of the public.
I also wonder why the trolley was emptied instead of just being abandoned if the alleged miscreant felt they'd been rumbled.

[Booldawg]

Doubt intention will warrant a conviction in the case of shoplifting whereas it would do with more serious crimes.

[Booldawg]

lol douglas - he obviously wanted his hessian bags back!

[VHG]

>>>Crate of wine a *major* theft?

CrateS plural.

Not sure how many but maybe 4 crates (or however many you can get in a large supermarket trolly).

Saw a couple of guys a few years ago on Christmas eve trying to walk out of a supermarket "entrance" with a huge TV in their trolly.

The police had been trailing them from store to store as they knew they were up to something so soon nabbed them.

[FredPuli43]

Theft is complete when the dishonest person appropriates property with intent to deprive the owner of it permanently. The moment the shoplifter takes the item off the shelf he is guilty, but the problem for the police is proving, from that mere fact, that there was an intent to steal. But there may be other circumstances which prove the intent, such as the man hiding what they are doing, looking around, being equipped with articles for use in theft such as a coat with a hidden pocket and so on.

It is simply practice to wait for the person to leave without paying because their leaving shows intent to permanently deprive. The person could be arrested inside, if there were reasonable grounds for believing they were committing theft.

[aelmpvw]

being took to court for stealing nothing is the likely outcome

[Old_Geezer]

No expert but arrest isn't the same as charged. IMO the store made a poor, knee jerk, reaction since it looks unlikely to go anywhere. But maybe they'll be content having given someone who appears to have criminal intent, a scare.

One wonders if he would have a case for claiming for his tarnished reputation given he has done nothing wrong, merely made a last minute decision not to buy, maybe because the store was making him feel uncomfortable.

[jno]

can't see this being remotely provable. Person goes round supermarket putting things in trolley, then puts them back again, having maybe looked at security cameras or at other people. I do that rather a lot.

But while it might be a waste of a court's time, it's not a waste of the supermarket's. They will have someone to keep an eye on, or ban if they so wish. I hope they gave you a bottle of wine in thanks.

[Khandro]

Further to OG; he could have said he replaced the cases when he suddenly realised he didn't have his credit card with him.

[magsmay]

This is weird -for instance -I am shopping for a party and have gone around and filled up my cart with booze crisps and the like. Some nosey parker (sorry but) decides to tell a member of staff I'm suspicious because I have only booze and high end products in my cart and I start getting followed by staff. At this point I say stuff this I don't get treated like this in Aldi, I'll give them my business, dump my cart and walk out -what criminal act have I actually done? None -full stop. He had the goods in his cart not up his jumper so how could anyone prove his 'intent' ?

[Pumbah]

But why take the goods out of the trolley, dump them in an aisle (not "put them back") and walk out ith the trolley?

[Pumbah]

Of course! He needed to get his £ coin back. Silly me!

[rojash]

Totally weird assumption that he was intending to steal.
How do you think he was going to execute the theft?
How does having crisps surrounding the booze help?
Get to the checkout. Put crisps on scanner - oops! all is revealed.
If I was this guy, I'd be looking for a solicitor in preparation for a wrongful arrest suit.

[weecalf]

Bags of crisps .Were they Stolden Wonder.

[Mamyalynne]

VHG, please forgive a bit of fun on a serious thread, but it is a drab damp Wednesday. Did wonder if this was the guy you saw?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuM2H6uFG2M

[grasscarp]

I was in a Tesco store a few years back and watched a man grab a tv (or large electrical item) and rush out of an emergency exit. The door alarm went off and I waited to see what would happen next. Surprised to see that nothing happened. Nobody in the shop seemed interested!

[weecalf]

Was jeremy kyle show on it at the time