To think my friend shouldn't have taken this money?

[Gracelet]

She was at a National Trust type place which had a second hand book section. As she was browsing she found £165 hidden in one of the books. Rather than hand it in she just kept it and looked rather shocked when I said it was theft.

My perspective - the book belonged to the shop and therefore so does the money.

Her perspective - just luck she came across it so decided to keep it/the shop should have checked the books.

Just for extra info, she doesn't struggle with money but does live payday to payday.

@wherearemywellingtons

You don't speak for me, I know what it is to have no money, and I mean NO money, or access to a credit card or savings.

I would hand this money in, because I don't steal.

I'm amazed she admitted it you!

I agree with this.

Even then the police or store would do zilch. If you donate something to a charity shop it’s your responsibility to make sure there’s no money shoved in it. It’s like donating a pair of trousers then realising there was £40 cash in the pocket.

Id have kept it, but I’d have bought the book to make it less obvious

I'd have bought the book, the National
Trust get their money from the sale

And donated the rest to a charity of my choosing (not the National trust) as I wouldn't have trusted the staff running the bookshop to not keep it - which clearly I would have been right to do considering how dishonest some people are

Times are hard….i would have kept it.

The right and moral thing to do is definitely to hand it in, but truthfully I wouldn’t like to say with certainty what I would do, I can see how it would be tempting to keep it if nobody else would know. I would find it a moral dilemma and would probably not make an instant decision about what to do.

very good! 😆

I found £20 when I was around 12 and handed it in.

I've been given £10 too much change by shops a few times and immediately pointed it out.

Something rung up at the till once for £50 less than it should have been and I pointed it out (although they did they let me have it at the lower price).

Smaller amounts (although £50 in 2001ish might have the buying power of £150 now!). But what we do in small matters is a good guide to what we'll do in larger matters.

Some people are just - dare I say it - a bit more honest than you 😉

I don't think so!

Id have bought the book it was in so then it would have been mine...

@LovelyTheresa

Permanently deprive' from whom, though?

The point is the money does not belong to the OP's friend so they are permanently depriving someone of it. In the first instance it belongs to the shop. If the owner of the book turned up and said they had accidentally left the money in the book and wanted it back it may be argued that they are the owner. A definitive answer may have to be sought in the civil court.

As the previous poster said all the elements to prove theft are there. It's not a grey area. The op's friend took something that she knew didn't belong to her. If the £165 had fallen out of someone's pocket and the op's friend had found it on the floor and she took it she would commit the offence of theft by finding. Legally you don't need to identify the true owner just that it did not belong to the finder and they have permanently deprived property belonging to another with the intention to permanently depriving the owner of it. In these circumstances the finder must make reasonable enquiries to find the true owner otherwise it's theft.

I would have kept it.

Exactly. The donator (who would now likely be untraceable) obviously didn’t intend to transfer ownership to the NT so it’s finders keepers- in my book 😂

when wasabout five i went to play out in our garden

there was 2 men setting up to play tennis-fully fenced gardenno confusion if it was private land

my df asked what tey were doing said they thougtit was a park

erm wtf?

Can you Trust this woman?
She needs to turn over a new leaf.

Not read all the replies, but on what planet is that not theft?!
It didn't belong to her.
I'd have handed it in, and I'm skint.
I suppose on thinking about it though, is technically theft?
It's not the book you're stealing. It's something they don't know about - it goes on your moral compass I suppose.
You'd have to be a bit shitty in character to take it, I just couldn't.
It's still theft in my eyes.
It's still not hers. It's been donated. So surely it belongs to the person/organisation it has been donated to and they could either hopefully track down the owner or use it for their funds if not.

5 notes are not a sizeable lump? Besides, it may have been quite a thick book.
Like a pp, I would not have taken it because I'd be afraid it was a trap.

it’s very unlikely that they’d track down the owner of the donated book so the money would probably just go as a donation to the trust…. So why would it be ok for them to keep it but not your friend?

Because the original donator of the book wanted to donate to the trust, so if they were unable to find the original person who donated then it stands to reason they'd want the trust to benefit?!
Not some random passer by with pound signs in their eyes thinking "Ker-ching!" and running off with it... 🙄😁

Hardly likely though. These places have lots of donations of books, big and small. It would be really difficult to remember who had donated a specific book.

That is theft
If she'd bought the book and found the cash, fair enough but to remove the cash and not even but the boom. VU

It’s called theft by finding https://www.stephensons.co.uk/site/blog/criminal-justice-blog/can-you-legally-keep-money-you-find

I'd of kept it.
Had I seen someone drop a wad of money or had I found a purse I'd of ensured I alerted the owner/ handed it in however under these circumstances I'd of kept it.

@LiquoriceAllsorts2 who is going to bring charges then

I'd have kept it. If I saw somebody drop money I'd not tell them if they looked like a knob as well. I know it's technically theft but I don't care. I have almost no compassion for most people and we all have to do what is best for ourselves.