Help!! DH has been charged with theft

[Donnasheppherd9]

DH has been charged with theft as is due to appear at the Magistrates Court. I am not coping well at all. He has been on bail for months. The amount is around £500. These were all mistakes and most of it has been questionable as the money is alleged to have been taken from elderly ppl but with no or little evidence. I am self employed and DH was working for me and we work with the public. I do not know what to do and would really appreciate some advice.

I agree with others that you should listen to the legal advice you have already. That is far better than anything you will get here.

I also agree with Chubfuddler that you would not be breaching the DPA by giving the details of an offender. Information used in the prevention or detection of crime or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders is exempt from the DPA.

Yes do have solicitor got forthcoming case. I do genuinely believe my DH is innocent. I have seen how hard he has worked. During busy periods; Starting work at 6.30am and fininishing at 11.30pm. Why would he take £500 (of which £200 was given straight back once the mistake was realised) when we have spent thousands in this business. All our savings were put towards developing this business??!!! There was no need for the money. We are genuine honest ppl that give more than that amount in charity each year, surely if there was a need for money we would cut back/borrow from family and friends. We haven't shared the case with many ppl around us but the few friends and professionals (Dr and health visitor) we have shared it with have fully supported us based on how they already know us.

The complaints were made by customers. When I mentioned the money being left behind; yes the money was handed back when the customer was next seen. It was not spotted straight away by me but only a few mins after he left. I had left the area of work to get something from store room and when I came back I saw the money and realised the customer left it behind. What if another customer had come along and taken it before I would have spotted it?? The 1st customer would have thought I kept it/stole it. Anyway money was given back and i got customer to sign receipt to confirm he had received it. What I am trying to say is surely its the responsibility of the customer to make sure they have all their cash before they leave. Yes if we see money is left behind we would do our best to make sure whoever left it was traced and it given back to.

*for forthcoming case

Thank you for letting me know I can pass on details of the offender in the hate crime incident. If I feel threatened by him again I will pass on details. I think the hate crime was not taken seriously because of what's going on with the theft case.

Donna I'm sorry that you are both going through this, unfortunately it is impossible to advise you with how vague all the detail is but if the cps have authorised a charge they have to believe there is a realistic chance of a conviction. The best thing you and your husband can do is have proper advice from a solicitor, and as someone else has already said if your husband feels that strongly that there is no case to answer he can opt for a crown court trial with a jury.

The comments about hate crime though are wrong, the police or at least in my force are constantly chased with any report of a hate crime to investigate it and bring charges where possible, if you wouldn't tell the officer who was doing it how could they investigate the allegation?

I did tell the police officer who did the hate crime against myself. I did not know his details other than surname. I said he is known locally and that the business next door would know him and that his son goes to the local school. I couldn't tell them anything else at the time, the man was of ethnic origin and In this particular area he is a Minority. Seriously I know this police force investigates differently from another local one as where I operate my business and actually live are two different places and forces. To be very honest I don't have much faith in the police no more... But I'm not here to slag off the police..

Just because someone is of an ethnic minority doesn't mean the police would know him, also the school wouldn't be able to pass details of a students father because that would be a breach of data protection as the incident wasn't directly related to the school.

Please try and ignore your feelings about the police, they are not the ones responsible for whatever has been alleged, if an allegation has been made against someone in a position of responsibility they are duty bound to investigate it

Don't get me wrong, i do understand the police are doing their job and in my line of work previous to this one I was working with the police in a number of community projects. I do see the two incidents as two different ones but feel like the hate crime was not investigated properly at all. I felt like I was wasting their time like they had taken the statement just to do paperwork and that's it. The police officers who came out to see me seemed disinterested and the one who took my statement at the police station was cold. I tried to engage in conversation with him commenting on what a lovely warm day it was and nothing...!!! He just wanted to get on with what he had to do and for me to go.. I can only assume that I must already be known to this force.. And the reason I can compare forces is; about 6 months ago these young girls were messing around outside my house... My 6 yr old son was playing outside with his dad and friends and they were swearing at passersby and I looked out of the window only to be met by insults from them. My son and husband came in and later the girls started throwing a ball at the window. I reported it and then saw the girls had gone I said its ok they have gone but the police from this force still came out to reassure us. We're rly friendly.. Said they would look around and to call them ASAP if they came back.

The onus is on the prosecution to prove that your husband meant to steal the money. By the sounds of it, the things you class as "mistakes" could be seen by others as theft, hence the investigation? I am a bit confused about how any money left isn't straight away put somewhere secure with a date & time logged?

Money was "left behind" by customers (how??) who claimed they didn't want it when it was brought to their attention (), and then later reported you for theft?
Nonsense.

Just how many people are involved in these mistakes?
And if it's elderly, vulnerable people you're talking about, I hope they throw the book at him.

Agree molly and l'm loving the way he scuttled inside when the young girls were apparently abusing his wife in their front window. He sounds a right catch

Sorry in my attempt to not disclose too much I don't think I have been clear. Any money left behind is always put away safely, recorded... Call is made to head office and reference no taken and is fully investigated. A signature is then taken on the original receipt to say customer now has the money. It doesn't happen very often.

Ummmm Molly you have lost me completely???! !!!
No1 said they didn't want the money they accidentally left behind! You clearly cannot read ... Perhaps you need to start reading books yourself before attempting to read a thread...

There are apparently a number of incidents in question here and in order for them to have happened as you said you must have a high number of elderly, forgetful people as your customers. I am also struggling to understand (assuming we are talking about a post office, credit union, community saving scheme or something similar) how money which has been forgotten, on more than a single occasion, could lead to allegations of theft. It is difficult to understand how the money was left in the first place and how you didn't notice before the person had even left the building, then equally difficult to know how the money would not have been returned to the customer. Presumably you have details of transactions so would know who had left the money behind?

I can understand a single instance where an older or confused person forgets they have been given money, loses or hides the money somewhere and then forgets about it but for this to happen a number of times seems unlikely?

Cross-posted with your last message. So if money is left behind, recorded and then signed for when returned to the customer why would there be allegations of theft of that money against your husband? Something is not right here. What is the £500 which is missing? Presumably there are no receipts or signatures for that?

Elderly people have left money behind and then forgotten or ask for an amount and it be given but later say they didn't want that amount
I can read perfectly well, op, but I can't actually interpret this, I'm afraid.
How could the above example lead to a charge of theft?

None of this makes any sense. If £500 was taken by mistake, why was only £200 paid back straight away? Why are there several incidents?

Like a couple of other posters, it is my job to tease out details from people and put this information together in an ordered way, but I can't get anywhere at all with understanding what is going on here.

OP, you asked what happens now. I will answer your original question.

1. Your Dh appears in court on the day specified on his bail notice when he was charged in custody.
2. He pleads guilty or not guilty. He can be represented by the duty court defence brief or your own. Please get a criminal defence lawyer. Don't let your business solicitor represent you, they are not experienced in criminal defence. Duty briefs work on an on-call rota from local defence firms, it's part of their agreement to get legal aid work.
3. If he pleads not guilty he can elect trial by jury at crown court as theft is an either way offence. If he elects crown court, he will then go through a 3 step process:

• Preliminary hearing @ crown where a timetable is set and any legal issues discussed
• Plea and Case Management where he enters his plea and a trial date is fixed.
• Trial

In my area this process usually takes at least 1 year.

My best advice to you is get a good criminal defence lawyer. Lots of people go to their family solicitors for criminal advice, none of the solicitors I know could give any advice on criminal law as they haven't practiced it ever. It's a specialised field. You may be entitled to legal aid depending on your means at mags, all defendants at Crown are entitled to legal aid unless they are very wealthy.

Your whole future rests on the outcome of this case. If your DH ends up with a conviction you will be limited as to overseas travel, what jobs he can do, what posts you can hold (I imagine that you would have to disclose DH's precons for your job).

Good luck, I really feel for the innocent families of defendants who have no idea what they have been doing, especially when their family security is at stake. I hope for your sake that you have not misplaced your trust.

OP - Is this a Care Home for the elderly settting that you and your DH worked in?

Thank you hardface for the information. I really do appreciate it. This is one of the most difficult periods of my life. I really appreciate your time. He is getting a defence lawyer.

It is clear that the OPs business involves caring for the elderly. Perhaps as a pop-in home help type service. Often the workers are asked to do shopping, pay bills or draw out cash for the clients.

It sounds like the DH has been accused of taking the client's money.

Molly the OP says elderly ppl have left money behind and forgotten or asked for an amount and it be given but later said they didn't want that amount.

This means that on occasion, the clients have left money unattended or have asked for money to be drawn out on their behalf....then forgotten the amount they left or the amount which they asked to be drawn out.

It wouldn't matter if they'd forgotten drawing out money if it had been properly recorded and signed for, Jitney.
Nobody wanders into a bank and demands the fifty quid they withdrew last Tuesday back, because they've forgotten the withdrawal; and calls the cashier a thief when the cashier refuses to transfer it back to their account.
If proper processes were being followed, there shouldn't be an opening for allegations of theft.

No Molly but an elderly person could ask for fifty pounds, this could be written in the book and later, the elderly person could dispute this....and think they'd asked for 100. You're assuming the DH is guilty by dint of the OPs garbled posts. Which is just silly.