To want my parcel - woman denying accepting it but I have a photo..

Court for something like this won't be that bad - you may not even need to be present!

DO see it through though, and don't feel bad - there was a simple way to avoid this, not stealing your fucking parcel!!

Wonder whether she's got a record for them (the police) to pursue it. Don't back down as you'll have wasted police time and good luck!

Everyone who makes a statement is first asked if they are willing to go to court.It saves time that would otherwise be wasted taking written statements from people who are not willing to attend.

It may be that they are going to invite her in for an interview, so they need your statement first. That doesn’t mean she will end up in court, just that she is giving her account. After that the police will assess whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed or not.

DH had something similar in the sense of surprise police followed up etc. In our case there was so much evidence from cctv the police would have pursued either way. But like you, the flat out denials were the most irritating thing. Police went on to successfully prosecute.

One thing I would consider OP, other than the various good points upthread about not letting people get away with this shit, is how bloody demoralising it must be for the police if people report crimes, then withdraw support as they take a moral position that it's not worth it to pursue and it ruins the case to prosecute.

We can't keep moaning that the police do nothing to investigate minor crimes, then when they do back out and say "oh shit no sorry I didn't mean it".

Think of the PC who's put in some effort to investigate this and consider how annoying it would be for that person if you pull out of what seems like an open and shut case.

That was behind my suggestion that she ask them what they hope to achieve. If there is some wider potential benefit that might make a difference.

To the person who said that the prosecution is not OP’s choice, that is true in the sense that the whole “choosing to/not to press charges” is a myth. But the reality is that the prosecution will not be viable without her as a witness.

OP don’t drop the case, as in similar cases the Police will not bother in future!

OP, I think it would be unfair to the Police if you decided to drop it now.
They've supported you, it's reasonable you support them.

Prosecuting or not isn't your decision the police need the data you have for a charging decision. I've had items delivered at my house that weren't for me...I ALWAYS contacted the company and most times they were gifted to me ...so if they took the parcel and were dishonest to your face...that's on them. After lots of police involvement surely you need to give them your data and move on.

If it was me I'd probably go round there and say - I know you had it. You know you had/have it. Hand it over and I will tell the police it's shown up again, and ask them to drop the case. She could even drop it on your doorstep. She may not agree as then there's potentially definitive evidence she stole it. But she may do. And then less police/court/witness time needed to be spent on it. But aside from that I wouldn't let it drop if I were you - it may be a crappy £20 parcel (crappy in terms of value not content!) but do you believe that people who behave like this with a £20 parcel wouldn't do the same if they happened on £800 an elderly lady dropped on the floor from her pension? It is highly likely they would. She should just tell the truth now (whether she stole it, the kids trashed it, she binned it, or whatever) and then she would just get a warning.

The police seem to like getting involved in postal theft, I was a witness a few years ago for the postie nicking stuff and my package was something barely worth a few quid.

No idea why some people are being arsey on this thread, I for one appreciate a non-disappearing OP!

I wonder if shes well known for petty theft or already on a suspended sentence for something else. If you know her name, have a Google..

I know it's only £20, big deal etc but it's this level of crime that is brining society down from the good old days out G.Parents had where most people were nice and honest....

I was simply pointing out to OP that she can choose to step away if she wants, particularly as she said she was stressed.

It is up to her if she wants to continue or not and she can reduce her stress levels by dropping it if she wants to. She can weigh up the benefits to her either way and whether to carry on.

I am not 'bothered' about the package or the situation at all, but it's easy to get caught up in small/ petty disputes and lose sight of the impact it's actually having on us, and whether it's worth it.

Like this thread for example, which I'm now leaving 😅

Exactly, everyone ignoring all of the petty theft that goes on is exactly why we have all the theft we do.

Well you’re bothered enough to keep commenting! No use people complaining about the Police doing nothing, then when they do, complain it’s too much fuss. It’s not about the amount of money involved,
it’s about theft.

No sympathy, she's had loads of opportunities to fess up and end the whole saga. She deserves whatever the outcome is

Well you don't have to keep pursuing it. You can if you want to. It's up to you.

it's causing you more stress than satisfaction then why are you doing it? No one else is bothered at the end of the day.

Edit: Just saw your edit and you sound irritated so I'll just leave it there.
It sounded like you wanted to drop it so I was encouraging you to let yourself step away if that's what you want. If that's not what you want then don't.
What I said was not intended as a personal attack at all.

Well it's up to individuals isn't it? OP can do what she wants if it gives her peace of mind, great.

For me, chasing a £20 package like this, putting in this amount of energy, getting the police involved, a whole thread on here and keeping coming back to it, constantly thinking about it - simply not worth it.

If I'd made the initial error with the address I'd just chalk it down to experience and let it go for the sake of my own time, energy and stress levels.

Problem is at what point do you do anything about it? £20/£120/£2000? We don’t know if this is the tip of the iceberg. Also we have a major problem at the moment with theft/shoplifting,most of which has been escalated by the issue being ignored at not dealt with.

I didn't say she should. I said whatever makes her happy (although she's already said it's now causing stress).

For me, this just would not be worth the effort. My time and energy is worth more than that £20. If it's worth it for some people then fine, for me it's just all a bit petty and drawn out tbh.

I had this with my ndn @BitOutOfPractice, I hope you get your parcel back .