woman admits stealing from tesco bin

[magpienchips]

Hi Mum's
I just want to know your opinion on the news that a woman who admitted taking food out of a tesco bin Is being prosecuted for theft?
I felt sorry for the woman when that news came to my attention because I would like to believe that she assumed that since the food was in a bin then it was no longer sell able and so it would not be considered a crime for taking it?
but tesco policy obviously does not allow that.
I think also that the fact that she admitted taking the food should have made tesco let her go.
also I can remember watching a Pro-gramme called whistle blowers I think?
anyway this man Applied for a job at various tesco stores and he secretly filmed tesco staff selling meat that was past the sell by date and I think that was done with the approval of management.
so my point is how can it be right for tesco to deceive and rip off customers
but it is wrong for customers to take food out of a bin?
I can understand that food is sold for profit but the fact is that food was bagged up and put into a bin to be thrown into a landfill site.
but if that woman had approached tesco management and ask them if she could take some of the food out of the bin?
I doubt very much if they would have said yes she can.
so this woman made the decision to take without asking permission which was foolish of course but yet it is understandable why she did it.
and for this woman to now be facing getting a criminal record and possibly a fine while tesco are still allowed to carry on trading after they were filmed Deceiving their customers.
I don't think that Is just or fair.
what do you Think?

because the woman was indian cupnoodle

wtf?

overmydead, it was an example. i have thrown old clothes in the bin. clothes that have huge tears inthem or unwashable stains/paint etc.

magpie, if teh woman was english woudl you have mentioned taht an old 'engilish woman used to steal from teh shop'?

I swear if I get mentioned in some trashy journo piece about mumsnetters advocating stealing then I will set fire to your knickers.

You are talking about 1975 and back then it was actually the charity's policy of letting workers have their pick of donated items. Today they must pay for them but only after they've been on display for 24hrs I think it is.

PLUS those items were donated to be sold on. The FOOD from Tesco is not donated, it is thrown away. Do you see the difference or would you like me to stamp it on your burnt knickers?

booyhoo
Yes I would have for the purpose of clarification nothing else.

yeah right.

so you're telling me you describe everyone you talk about as "the english man"?

"So there was this charity shop and this old English lady volunteered there...." Nope, don't sound right at all. But of course as we all know, all Indian people are thieves right?

This poster is full of shit...ignore.

no this happened in 1995 pinto...and no the policy was staff pay for donated items...nothing was free for staff.
I blew the whistle because the woman and man by what they were doing were depriving oxfam and ultimately the poor people that would benefit from the profit that should have gone to them.
and no you wont end up in journal piece

In order to prove theft, the prosecution would have to show that the woman not only took the property but did so dishonestly. If she had a genuine and reasonably held belief that Tescos could not give a fig what happened to the things they put in the bins, then she did not take the items dishonestly, and it was not theft. It will probably turn on evidenence such as whether she asked anyone if it was ok to take things, whether the bins were secured, whether she had taken stuff before and not been stopped, whether tesco publishes its 'bin policy' etc.

Hmm, I definitely smell an amateur journo who can't be bothered doing any real research.

you said it pinto...so keep stirring the pot...

1995? I thought you said 75?

I still don't like it when people report their colleagues to senior staff without having a word with them first. It's called snitching in our house and is something I teach my kids not to do.

Poor comparison too between donated clothes and thrown away food.

scurryfunge
thank you
however I won't stir up any brown stuff about you because I would be lying and that would be wrong right?

I'll send you an invoice magpie. I'm in the same field as you only I do all my own research and probably get paid much more as a result ;)

I did have a word with her pinto...I could not stand by and let the shop lose profit because of two dishonest volunteers.
if you were the manager you would expect me to report to you any wrong doing that was taking place behind your back wouldn't you?

I don't understand your comparison though magpie. You switch from thrown out food to donated clothes for a charity. How is your article going to pan out? Or will your readers think the comparisons relevant?

Pinto there Is no article...I just wanted to know your opinion on theft that I witnessed when I worked for oxfam and you gave it thank you...no need to worry about this being put in a journal pinto.
Relax.

I still don't get why it's relevant?

But fwiw, I agree with your opening post and think that Tesco are being hypocritical. I certainly feel annoyed that my taxes are going towards trivial cases like this that could have been dealt with outside the court, if at all.

I agree that if clothes are donated to be sold on then workers should not help themselves but pay a fair price for the items. The clothes are not being thrown away, they are being given to raise money for charity.

Two very different scenarios.

exactly pinto thank you...for that reason alone I felt it was right to report what was happening to the manager because she put me in charge when she was away and although it was happening more than once the last straw was when the woman phoned her friend who came to the shop and walked out with a arm full of things without putting any money in the till.
that incensed me and so i decided to blow the whistle otherwise the shop would have been bled dry.

Fair enough then. You were right to do so.
I hope you raided the Tesco bin on your way home!

its relevant because the food was thrown out and the clothes were given to charity
the woman had no right to take the food out of the tesco bin without permission from the owners and the volunteer had no right to take donated clothes without putting money in the till.

nevertheless
i do sympathize with the woman who stole the food...its unlikely but she may have been poor and starving?
and that would be her reason for stealing even though technically she was wrong to do it.
I think she had grounds to be forgiven because the food was set to be put into a landfill site and after being inside a bin the quality would have deteriorated
putting her at risk of food poisoning to say the least.
i think if anything tesco as several people mentioned on this thread are using this woman as an example to deter any would be bin raiders looking for freebies.
whereas the woman I mentioned in the charity shop that was out and out selfishness
and since I was in charge when the manager was away I had to take action.