Does my friend legally own these items

[Dicky007]

My friends company got took over by a bigger company and relocated, when they were clearing out the offices they were skipping nearly everything.

My firend rescued some of these documents from the skip being old original title deeds from around 1600 onwards.

Does he have legal title to these documents?

[vinrex7]

In america, if you put something in the trash. then it becomes public property. not sure if it applies over here. but if they were being thrown out i guess they don't want them and therefore won't care that your friend has them or try and get them back.

[Grunty]

As Pickle says, this is theft. However any action will depend on whether anyone makes a complaint of theft to the police. Despite the position in America, in the past people have been convicted of stealing from refuse sites. Again, it is not something at the top of the average police officer's 'jobs to do' list.