..to think that the London Marathon water theives should be named and shamed?

[Jaimx86]

I'm horrified at the news of looters (small group) stealing from the London Marathon water station at Deptford! Some adults are using their child's pram to carry all of the bottles they're taking.
What will people do next year if this goes unpunished? Steal the runners' phones and trainers as they go past?!
The London Marathon Event Manager has said it will be investigated.

[Roseformeplease]

Facebook "life" not like

[Laura812]

The the idea that Thou shalt not steal is an anal idea on MN is dreadful. Of course if they were told they could take the water that's utterly different. It sounds like they weren't as they were hiding their faces.

Even yesterday in a super market when my sons bought a cookery book one raised the issue of whether legally he could read in the shop to buy ingredients before he'd paid as he knows you cannot eat stuff before you pay as it's not yours in law. It is very important our children have absolute clarity on what the law is.

[summerdreams]

To be honest it's water that the runners did not need any more, I'm not sure how I feel about this it was to be drank anyway why not the people who live there ? I kind of feel bad for them actually I mean to be named and shamed for taking water that no one wanted as the race was over it's hardly the london riots is it...

[HoneyDragon]

Or they were hiding their faces because they were being filmed?

[Oysterbabe]

Once the sweep car has passed, which it had, they clear up everything behind it so fast. If the water wasn't taken it would have been dumped. The organisers can't just leave it there for the slow runners in case it isn't taken.

[StickyMessi]

It appears to be a UKIP propaganda video published with a view to stirring up racial disharmony.

[limitedperiodonly]

yesterday in a super market when my sons bought a cookery book one raised the issue of whether legally he could read in the shop to buy ingredients before he'd paid as he knows you cannot eat stuff before you pay as it's not yours in law. It is very important our children have absolute clarity on what the law is

And what was your opinion, my learned friend?

[limitedperiodonly]

The more I think about it, the supermarket cook book dilemma should be taught in ethics. Once read, it cannot be unknown. I think the only moral choices facing you yesterday were either to buy the book or give your son a lobotomy. I'm so glad you went for the former because the latter would teach him a lesson he'd forget.

[Queenbean]

Leaving aside whether they did steal it or if it was being given away:

If I was being filmed for almost anything I'd hide my face. This new thing that people film anything, put a caption on it, edit the start or end out and then spread it around social media is disgraceful. People become known immediately and the people that put these things online have no idea how it will affect that persons work or private life. I'm not just talking about this situation - pretty much anything filmed and then put on social media can be taken a number of ways.

We have no idea if this water was given away, we weren't there.

[witsender]

I can't bring myself to get het up about this, especially given the provenance is a little on the dubious side.

[bloodyteenagers]

Reading the shite that was posted on YouTube with the original video Sticky, that would suprise me. It has been posted that this was filmed a few minutes after the marathon started. Haha. Wonder which bit. The 8.55 start of. The 10am. The ones in between. Oh wait, this will be after 11.

Oh and for the straggles. The ones that are after the last vehicles. There are water stations along the way. As the vehicles pass. The clean up begins. The slower runners are not left without water. Unlike what the muppet who filmed and uploaded is implying. Even with the water given away. It's hard to explain how they do it and even the cleaning vehicles have water on board
For the slow runners.

[LisaMumsnet]

I am really dismayed to hear this! Everyone I know who runs marathons says how it restores your faith in humanity when total strangers offer you sweets or encouragement along the way. So instead of focusing on this sad event we should instead celebrate the hundreds of thousands of people who turned out yesterday to cheer the runners on. THAT is what the participants will remember - not the disgraceful actions of a handful of people who spoil things.

[WaitingForTheMan]

I was just wondering, is the water free to everyone, even the spectators?
If it's free then it can hardly be said to have been stolen or looted.

[DiscordiaVanDiemen]

They weren't told they could take it. There was a representative of the London Marathon on the BBC Radio London Vanessa Felz show this morning, talking about the thieving skanks.

[Sparklingbrook]

www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-marathon-organisers-to-beef-up-security-after-bottled-water-is-stolen-from-refreshment-a3232791.html

Sounds like it will all be investigated.

[ConferencePear]

So they were thieves.

[Sparklingbrook]

The Standard has been careful to put 'stolen'. But the organisers of the marathon don't seem to be that happy do they?

[ilovesprouts]

Bet they flog it at the car boots sales,saying that my dd boyfriend used to put barriers up for races etc had sports drink and when they put the barriers down they could take the drinks .

[Laura812]

The Standard put quotes on stolen of course. One reason I adore my career is it is about this kind of issue - nothing is better than a career in law.

What about goods left outside a charity shop as another example? Romanians take buses armed with black sacks to our local one at weekends and sort through it on the streets. I don't particularly mind if my stuff goes for sale to them or to the charity itself as long as it's not just dumped in landfill but it is not correct everything not welded down and left in a pubilc place is yours to take of course. If in doubt take now't.

As for the recipe book my boys did indeed buy it. Their view on the issue was you can flick through books to see if you want to buy them - which is true but not clear where you draw the line. Plenty of people without much money will have spent many an hour in book shops reading the books rather than buying them and they are likely to incur the wrath of the book shop which is to sell books not to be a library.

[Sparklingbrook]

Our charity shops have signs asking people not to leave bags outside when they are closed. Seems sensible to me.

Everyone seems to use the local WHSmith like a magazine library. Not sure if they mind or not.

[WaitingForTheMan]

From Midnight Cowboy.

Gretel McAlbertson: Why are you stealing food?
Ratso Rizzo: I was just, uh, noticing that you're out of salami. I think you oughtta have somebody go over to the delicatessen, you know, bring some more back.
Gretel McAlbertson: Gee, well, you know, it's free. You don't have to steal it.
Ratso Rizzo: Well, if it's free, then I ain't stealin'.

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

You can see the footage here. Nobody's hiding their faces I think I spotted one person wearing a hoodie - a perfectly normal item of clothing, especially when it's a bit chilly, as it was yesterday.

[TrickyD]

What are you going on about, MrsDeVere?

You said

People are being greedy. Its not edifying but I doubt very much it is exactly how it has been presented. and I agreed.

If the unedifyingly greedy people had been right wing types, I shouldn't think many people would be defending them by saying it 's OK to take such goods. I wouldn't.

Can't see why that is in "stunningly bad taste" .

[HoneyDragon]

If radio London allowed the term thieving skanks to be used than radio London can go fuck itself