To think security should have let thief stole?

[User271947]

Was doing my food shop earlier and happened to see the scene of a man getting caught stealing milk. Just a bottle of milk.

My heart broke for this thief, if he wasn't desperate he wouldn't have stolen... it wasn't anything he could gain money from.

I thought if security just turned a blind eye and let him walk home with it he might have fed himself or someone, or at least took away that bit of hunger. Yes it's their job but I think sometimes humanity should be above.

Would you have compassion for this or am I being naive?

Theft is theft

No, of course it shouldn't be tolerated, dont be so gullible.

How do you think they caught him? They probably know to look out for him!

They are doing their job.

However if I see someone stealing any food/sanitary or essential item.... I didn’t 👀

What if everyone who was shopping that day 'just' stole a pint of milk

We all pay a lot more for everything because of people like him. Of course he shouldn't be let off.

The thief might go in several times a day, and the security guards are paid to stop theft. It's sad to see someone stealing the most basic of items, but that's a snapshot and may not be as it seemed.

Both. If he's genuinely so poor he needs to steal a bottle of milk then I'm sorry for the state he is in. But the security guy has a job to do, and there isn't an "is OK to steal this much" threshold. What if he let the guy go and then got sacked for it?

yeah, I would have turned a blind eye too, but he was just doing his job. Sad times :(

You are extremely naive. The security guard was doing their job, and rightly so. We all pay extra because of those who don’t fancy paying

Did you intervene and offer to pay for it?

He was doing his job what if he let everyone off ,just stealing a pint of milk or loaf of bread? The security guard may then lose his job and not be able to feed his own family .

You don’t know the first thing about the back story here, so yes, you are being hugely naive. Perhaps this chap just didn’t fancy paying for the milk. Not all shoplifting is borne out of desperation.

Stealing is wrong, but the man clearly needs help rather than punishment. It would be good if, in cases like this, the police did an assessment of whether food bank support would make a difference. There is a world of difference between stealing one bottle of milk and stealing valuable goods to order.

Punishing the theft without addressing the cause is a waste of time, and wrong imo.

You say just a pint of milk, but you don’t know what else he had stuffed in his pocket. Even if nothing, pint of milk today, he’ll get bolder then it’ll be a bottle of vodka or another high value item.

Don't think you're being naive but the security guards were just doing their jobs, that could be at risk if they turned a blind eye and the place migbt become known as a shop for easy pickings.

And yes l have compassion, in that l think it's criminal(pardon the pun) that anyone needs to steal a bottle of milk due to the poverty we have now.

Most common item to steal is cheese followed by coffee.

Even with the benefits system being what it is theft cannot be condoned..

They should have given him a couple of bags and told him to fill them!

Thieving dirty scumbag should be permanently banned from the store and handed community service order.

My heart broke for this thief, if he wasn't desperate he wouldn't have stolen...

That's very naive. I had people, women and men, in business suits nicking stuff just for the buzz. Security is doing a job and shouldn't be letting things go

Oh don't be ridiculous

If they let everyone steal small, cheap items, half the shelves would be stripped bare.

If he's truly in need, I hope they get him help though. This is usually what happens when they're arrested, they'll run a welfare check.

Nope should not be condoned. However, I spotted a kid stealing food once (as did the security guard) and I pretended i knew them and paid.
Sometimes when you are at a low point it only takes 1 act of kindness to change the way you see the world. Or maybe they just laughed at me being a gullible fool.
I prefer to believe the former.

There are lots of services where he could get milk for free. I work with homeless people a lot and you have to have boundaries. 'Dont steal' is one of them.

Theres a homless guy near me at the moment driving me mad, he does a crying act and tells people he needs '£15 to get into the shelter' which is a pure lie. The shelter is free. The ones who just ask for a bit of change and dont feed me bullshit or an act and dont steal I have no issues with and will generally help more.

🙄 yeah sure, everyone should just be allowed to nick whatever they need.

oh and also milk actually is a common shoplifters item. A lot of people thought it was a good idea to get a big bag of shopping for homeless people rather than money. Well drug dealers then started accepting bags of shopping instead of money for drugs. Meat is another big one.