Tesco Shoplifting - need help.

whiteswan

missbiggles1 wrote: »

But the OP isn't innocent, he attempted to leave the store with goods he hadn't paid for. Perhaps you missed that bit?

Hang on - of course I'm innocent until proven guilty in a court of law..........arn't I ?

Dave

missbiggles1

whiteswan wrote: »

Hang on - of course I'm innocent until proven guilty in a court of law..........arn't I ?

Dave

Not when, in your very first post, you said that you left the store with magazines you didn't pay for.

tomtontom

whiteswan wrote: »

I did not try to conceal the magazines - they were in my hand the whole time.

Whilst you ate a meal and went to the toilet?

whiteswan

tomtontom wrote: »

Whilst you ate a meal and went to the toilet?

They were in my hand when I went to leave the store - not "concealed in my jacket" like the security guy told the Policeman.

Dave

whiteswan

tomtontom wrote: »

Whilst you ate a meal and went to the toilet?

Thinking about what you have wrote - I bet they expected me to come out of the toilet with the magazines hidden inside my jacket.........

The security guy did tell the Policeman I was "hanging around" outside the toilet for 10 minutes (I was on the telehone to my Manager - again quite clearly visible on cctv - and I even shown the call records to the Police Officer who shown them to the security guy)

Dave

Azari

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Not when, in your very first post, you said that you left the store with magazines you didn't pay for.

I think you need to learn a little law.

To be guilty of theft (or attempted theft) you must have had an intent to permanently deprive the owner of their property.

Naturally, this site being what it is, the usual suspects are having a hate-fest at the expense of the OP.

I would just say that supermarkets are renowned for charging people higher prices than they display but this is always brushed off as a 'mistake'.

They get away with it countless times each day with no comeback, but let a shopper make a single mistake and the ignorant and foolish are convinced that said shopper had felonious intent.

tomtontom

whiteswan wrote: »

They were in my hand when I went to leave the store - not "concealed in my jacket" like the security guy told the Policeman.

Dave

But you put them down and picked them up several times before leaving, and at no point thought to go and pay for them?

I'm not suggesting you would be found guilty in a court of law, the case could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt, but in the lay sense of the word I find it difficult to believe your protested "innocence".

Nick_C

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Not when, in your very first post, you said that you left the store with magazines you didn't pay for.

Legally, innocent until proven guilty (or admitting guilt). But I see your point. He might have been found guilty if it had gone to court. It would have depended on the evidence, including possible medical evidence.

Theft requires evidence to prove an intention to permanently deprive.

But of course any thief could say they walked out of the shop innocently forgetting to pay for the goods.

One of the things that sways me slightly against the OP is the altercation that he had with the security guard once he was off the shop floor; there is a suggestion that he told the guard to get back to the store.

One would expect an innocent person to be polite, contrite and apologetic, while maintaining their innocence; not confrontational. Its not as if this was a complete fabrication. OP did walk out of the shop without paying for the goods.

It's not the job of Tesco or the Police to decide the rights and wrongs of the case.

I think all the supermarkets have a policy of always trying to prosecute "shoplifters". Theft from shops happens on a large scale, and increases prices for honest consumers. The supermarket won't attempt to judge the case. If they have evidence that suggests theft, they will try to secure a prosecution, and rightly so.

The role of the Police is to gather evidence and, if they believe there is sufficient evidence to bring about a prosecution with a reasonable chance of conviction, then refer it to the CPS.

This has been an unfortunate experience for the OP, but I don't think he has any cause for redress or that Tesco have acted improperly.

DevilsAdvocate1

I don't have any medical conditions, but I've done this before.

When my eldest was a baby, I got back to the car after paying for my shopping and realised that I had a packet of chilli mix which I hadn't paid for. It was under the blanket on the trolley part of the pushchair.

Another time, I paid for a bunch of magazines but forgot to pick them up. I only realised when I got home. I didn't get them back either despite calling the store. And you wouldn't believe the number of times I've left my credit card in the machine after paying.

We all make mistakes. As one of my work colleagues says, "show me someone who's never made a mistake and I'll show you a liar."

Nick_C

DevilsAdvocate1 wrote: »

When my eldest was a baby, I got back to the car after paying for my shopping and realised that I had a packet of chilli mix which I hadn't paid for. It was under the blanket on the trolley part of the pushchair.

What did you do about that?