Not charged for fuel

Lum

"Please check your change as mistakes cannot be rectified later"

Surely this works both ways?

Pay if you feel you have a moral obligation to do so, or can't be bothered with the hassle and potential arrest,
but the CCTV footage will show you fill up, enter the station, and attempt to pay. If there is no CCTV (highly unlikely) your credit card receipt will prove your attempt to pay.

I know we have a few police on here, would you even bother investigating further after seeing the CCTV footage described above, as opposed to the usual fill up and drive off?

asbokid

There is an e-learning site for budding law students at: http://www.e-lawresources.co.uk/Making-off-without-payment.php

s.3 of the 1978 Theft Act provides:

…A person who, knowing that payment on the spot for any goods supplied or service done is required or expected from him, dishonestly makes off without having paid as required or expected and with intent to avoid payment of the amount shall be guilty of an offence.

To secure a conviction, the Prosecution has to demonstrate both the actus reus and the mens rea of the offence.

The actus reus is clear cut.. the OP took delivery of the petrol and then the OP made off (left) without payment.

However, the mens rea is not so clear. The Prosecution has to prove three things beyond reasonable doubt..

• Knowledge that payment is required on the spot

• Dishonesty

• Intention to avoid payment

Lord Lane CJ ruled that the test for dishonesty is as follows:

"In determining whether the prosecution has proved that the defendant was acting dishonestly, a jury must first of all decide whether according to the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest people what was done was dishonest. If it was not dishonest by those standards, that is the end of the matter and the prosecution fails.

If it was dishonest by those standards, then the jury must consider whether the defendant himself must have realised that what he was doing was by those standards dishonest."

At the point that the OP "made off" from the petrol station, he was not acting dishonestly, since it was an honest mistake to leave without making payment.

A Court is likely to accept that the OP's willingness to pay for other goods demonstrated that his failure to pay for the petrol was an innocent oversight rather than a wilful theft.

However, since the OP discovered some hours later that he had not paid for the petrol, what does that mean for his criminal liability?

Now that the OP has discovered that he failed to pay, would his failure to return with payment amount to an act of dishonesty?

In his House of Lords speech in R v Allen, Lord Hailsham relied on the Court of Appeal judgment from Boreham J. to clarify that there must be an intention to permanently deprive the owner of his property.

"To secure a conviction under section 3 the following must be proved: (1) that the defendant in fact made off without making payment on the spot; (2) the following mental elements - (a) knowledge that payment on the spot was required or expected of him; and (b) dishonesty; and (c) intent to avoid payment of the amount due.

"If (c) means, or is taken to include, no more than an intention to delay or defer payment of the amount due it is difficult to see what it adds to the other elements. Anyone who knows that payment on the spot is expected or required of him and who then dishonestly makes off without paying as required or expected must have at least the intention to delay or defer payment. It follows, therefore, that the conjoined phrase 'and with intent to avoid payment of the amount due' adds a further ingredient - an intention to do more than delay or defer - an intention to evade payment altogether."

But where the initial act of "making off without payment" was done without dishonesty, is the OP guilty of an offence if he does not return to make payment?

[Deleted User]

vax2002 wrote: »

The police wont be far away, so act now to prove you had no INTENTION of making off without payment, The chances of Driving there are slim as your car will get stopped by a ANPR camera equipped police car if you pass one.
First thing call the tescos immediately ask for the manager, you will have to blag past the £5.95 an hour nutjob on the phone, insist, argue, get through and explain the situation and ask where you can forward the payment to, pay by cheque, keep the stub and a photocopy of the cheque.
You are only not guilty of the offence if you can prove you had no intention to make off without payment, the dumb cashier is not forced to tell the truth to save a job. CALL NOW ! before you get a knock, the chances of getting away with it, 99.9% against you, the chances of getting charged with the offence if you dont try to correct it, very high indeed as your cover up will be used as admission of dishonesty, first call the card company to check you have not been charged.
Always remember : The police don't do excuses, they do results.

You are really a nice person aren't you. NOT.

worried_jim

Last August I came out the Tate Modern and nipped into the little newsagents next door (where all the junkies shoot up- you know the one) and bought some drinks and icecreams for my friend and I. When I paid I thought that it was very cheap and picked my items up and went outside to spend the afternoon enjoying the sights of London whilst sitting on the grass. I realised that the lady did not charge me for the the corneto's- should I go back and pay for them or will plod pull me over with his face recognition software?- I will never sleep tonight now with worry.

Paradigm

Gotta laugh at some of the posts...

The only certainty is that Tesco won't lose out, the poor cashier will be making up the shortfall in the till & possibly be signing on tomorrow!

There won't be any police, court or other legal proceedings!

asbokid

It does highlight a good scam for a dedicated swindler..

So long as the motorist pointedly enters the store to pay for something, and has proof of that payment, then it's difficult to see how his failure to pay for the petrol can be shown to be anything more than an innocent oversight. How ever is the Prosecution going to show dishonesty?

My mate from Liverpool 8 always tucks a big box of Pampers nappies on the shelf under the shopping trolley before paying for his items in the supermarket. Rarely, the cashier notices the nappies and he has to say "oops" and cough up for them but that is, thankfully, only rarely.

He's been pulling off the same stunt since before the Tocky riots (where we first met). His kids were just babies back then. They are all over thirty now, and accomplished at pulling off the same stunt themselves!! It's become a respected family business in Liverpool.

mikey72

They prosecute (successfully) around here for things like that.

Flyboy152

bengalknights wrote: »

Are you looking at the receipt or the credit card slip?

Check your credit card to see you havent been charged as tesco sometimes give a receipt with items on it but no receipt for petrol unless asked for.

No they don't, they give receipts for the whole transaction and you don't have to ask for it either. In fact, of all the petrol stations I have used in the many, many years of driving, I have never ever had to ask for a receipt from a supermarket petrol station.

Flyboy152

Boozer wrote: »

I think you know the answer is to go back and pay for it, i would not imagine they will even notice until close of business and they try to add things up, i would actually say linking your CC to your registration and amount you did not pay would also be very challenging, if they would even spend so much time on it.

I dont really think you are on the police most wanted list and being searched for through ANPR just yet, but remove any doubt by phoning them to tell them you are coming back to pay anyway, not worth the hassle of worrying about it.

The automated system will tell them within minutes that a pump remains unjustifed.

Tucker

asbokid wrote: »

He's been pulling off the same stunt since before the Tocky riots (where we first met). His kids were just babies back then. They are all over thirty now, and accomplished at pulling off the same stunt themselves!! It's become a respected family business in Liverpool.

It's nice to see some trades are still passed down the generations! :cool: