WWYD - Pay or not for meal we did an (unintentional) runner on

[SomedayBaby]

We got back yesterday from ten days away in the UK. We spent Sunday night in a Premier Inn before driving back yesterday and went for breakfast in the adjoining pub (you know the one that's affiliated with the PI) before leaving.

Anyway, we've just been talking about the trip in general, the P Inn breakfast was mentioned and we've just realised we didn't actually pay for it. We think it was £19 (for two adults, kids eat free)...we strolled in and got shown to a table then upped and left when we were done .

In our defence, this was the third hotel we'd stayed in on that trip and with the others breakfast was included, so it just didn't seem to occur to either of us to pay. The waitress happily waved us out as we left so it obviously didn't occur to her either!

Dh think's it would be silly to call them now...this P Inn is about 350 miles from where we live so popping in to pay isn't an option and dh thinks calling them over less than £20 is stupid and we should leave it. I feel really bad though and guilty and ridiculous ...WWYD?

Oh stop being daft it wasn't stealing
Yes you are right it wasn't stealing but it is now they have realised that they didn't pay for it.

Deliberate is intentional theft. The accidental nature loses the excuse of accidental once the person is aware they have done it. If they don't pay they then intend to deprive the seller/owner of his property/money for their own benefit. That is theft.

SDGT- not at all. That was my point really. A diamond ring seems somehow morally more serious but the breakfast is the same moral dilemma really. If 4 people eat a breakfast and knowingly don't pay for it once they realise they have made an accidental mistake, it becomes theft. If we make mistakes we have an opportunity to put them right. If we don't put them right, that is not an accient it is a deliberate choice.

Should I have taken it back? We didn't 'steal it'
As soon as you knew that you had it and didn't return it, it became theft.

Section 1(1) Theft Act 1968 -
"A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it; and “thief” and “steal” shall be construed accordingly."

Section 3(1) Theft Act 1968 -
"Any assumption by a person of the rights of an owner amounts to an appropriation, and this includes, where he has come by the property (innocently or not) without stealing it, any later assumption of a right to it by keeping or dealing with it as owner."

My first year law exams (many years ago) had scenarios that we had to "discuss" in it and there was one that was pretty much exactly the same as the OP's situation.

Tesco shop would have been a totally different scenario. This was food that gets thrown away anyway at the end of service. I honestly wouldn't care who footed the bill if this would have been me Coz 1: I know I would never be going there again and 2 : it wouldn't have any impact on me whatsoever ever n 3: I don't know the people working there.

Oh ffs

What a self righteous thread. Such a lot of holy joes.

It's not theft. It's not theft cause there was no intent. There's no retrospective thievery.

It was breakfast. Not a diamond ring. No waitress has been harmed by the eating of this breakfast. Rest easy on concern for the anonymous waitress. I'm also pretty sure PI are not going to go broke cause some family forgot to pay for the hideously overpriced cereal and toast.

Quite possibly they've not even noticed.

So upshot is, I might ring once to try and fix it but I certainly wouldn't be losing any sleep over it.

The OP's responses clearly show that she doesn't want to pay. It's all hidden in excuses like: "I tried call PI but the receptionist was really grumpy and said she'd pass the message onto the restaurant. Why should I bother after that?"

Easy. Call the restaurant.

Then

"Oh, I don't know the restaurant's name"

Easy. Google it.

Basically, you don't want to pay OP. At least be honest and admit it.

Didn't realise this was now a law lesson? This post is getting beyond ridiculous now.

My point exactly wiltingfast. I don't think it as theft either. Some of you need to change your day jobs and go work in the convents & be nuns by the look of some of the utterly reductions remarks.

ridiculous remarks* damn auto text!

It's not theft. It's not theft cause there was no intent. There's no retrospective thievery.

This is total nonsense in legal terms. Had OP decided not to pay, she would have formed the required intent at that stage, and at that stage would have become a thief. Look at, for instance, R v Shadrokh-Cigari - e-lawresources.co.uk/R-v-Shadrokh-Cigari.php: the defendant took money out of a child's account which the bank had credited to it by mistake. He was found guilty and the conviction was upheld by the appeal court because he was under a legal obligation to return the money sent by mistake. In a similar case - www.e-lawresources.co.uk/cases/A-G-Ref-%28No-1-of-1983%29.php - it was held that in the same circumstances a person would be guilty of theft even if he simply left the money in his account.

I am astonished at how many posters think taking 4 meals and not paying for them is something to be shrugged off. In the grand scheme of things it sin't the end of the world, I agree. However, it is dishonest. I doubt you would feel the same if she had taken something that belonged to you. eg took your child's coat or toy worth £20 and didn't return it or pay for it once she had realised.

This is total nonsense in legal terms
I know it is ridiculous people say that it is not theft and you kindly try and explain to them why it is and they say things like -
"Didn't realise this was now a law lesson? This post is getting beyond ridiculous now"

I've got a wire shopping basket I use for picking vegetables. Years ago my husband was wandering round M and S (before the soft baskets) and didn't buy anything and just wandered out and put it in the car. He's a head teacher and it was around results day so he was away with the fairies. That was years ago and in another country, must have been Kuwait or Saudi from the timescale. It's lived in about 5 countries and still going strong. We always intended to take it back but it's always in use. I suppose we did steal it because we didn't take it back, it can't be dressed up any other way. But I'm fine with that.