Is it theft if you return the item?

[Countrydogx]

We live in the countryside and on our way home we see some bits of old tree by the side of the road, we thought would be great for the fire so DH popped them in the boot.

We got home and a couple of minutes later a very angry woman came to the door shouting that we have stolen the wood from the farm nearby, that it was private properly. Didn’t appear to be her property. We apologised said we didn’t realise and DH said he would take it straight back. The woman continued to rant about how we are thieves and she was going to police/ the farmer etc

We honestly didn’t realise it was anyone’s and DH has taken it back (it was literally 3 longish sticks).

Should we be worried? She clearly followed us home and said she had filmed us?

I was quite shaken up tbh!

For theft to be proven they have to show the intention was to permanently deprive, but to be honest if she does report I can’t see the police spending much time on this and the owner of the wood would need to want to make a complaint anyway.

Thank you for responding. I can’t see it either really but she was furious!!

I honestly wouldn’t worry about this, you’ve returned it now anyway but I really don’t think it would go anywhere even if it was reported. She sounds a bit unhinged!!

For it to be theft it also has to be done dishonestly- this wouldn’t be seen as dishonest as you didn’t realise it was hers. I wouldn’t give it any more thought.

You’re being a bit naive: those logs/sticks didn’t get there accidentally. It’s not OK to take wood from anywhere really. You do have to buy logs and kindling for your fire.

I wouldn’t worry about it. She sounds a bit weird and she’s the one harassing you.

Wood’s been taken back so a non issue. Doubt the police would waste time over a few sticks anyway.

we see some bits of old tree by the side of the road

Define side of road. Literally where the gutter would be, or the council grass verge or from someone's front lawn?

Don't worry, honestly.
There is no way this would go to court.

You can’t get the police to come out for an actual burglary these days. They’re not going to come out over a bit of wood.

The police don’t investigate burglaries of under £200 so I’d be gobsmacked if they paid you a visit.

Around here, people put stuff they don't want out at the kerb; the general understanding is that it is free for the taking.

My neighbour has just replaced a short section of privacy fence... the old fence boards are out at the kerb.

A block away, someone has a new front door; the old door is outside waiting for someone who thinks "wow, that will be great for my shed..."

The legal definition of theft is...Dishonestly appropriate property belonging to another with the intent to permanently deprive the other there of.
The property belonged to someone else and you were going to burn it, so there was no intention to return it. They grey area is the dishonestly bit. You had no intent, but you also had no legal right to pick them up. I would say that the offence is complete and you have committed theft. There are certinally grounds to arrest you on suspicion of theft.
That said no police officer is going to do that, and I wouldn't give it at another thought.

Thank you everyone. It’s hard to describe where exactly they are, but were on a grass bank but the side of the road and didn’t look like they were for anything. It was an error, but we didn’t break in to a field or anything like that. Foolish really.

I will update the thread if anything further happens.

As somebody who previously lived in the countryside and cut a lot of timber for a biomass heating system, it’s fucking infuriating that so many people seem to think that timber is free and no harm is done by them taking a few logs or branches here and there - and yes, in the past I have angrily confronted people doing it, and yes, despite what others on the thread have said, the local police were actually pretty hot on visiting offenders if reported because resource theft is a big deal for a lot of rural people and the assumption is that people taking cut timber might also be draining heating oil tanks, taking scrap metal, or poaching game or fish. All land belongs to somebody and all felled timber was felled by somebody. If you aren’t that somebody, then it’s theft. It sounds as though in your case it was a genuine mistake, but I really don’t blame the woman for “ranting” at what was very possibly just one of many people she’d recently seen doing it.

If you see cut timber, you don’t take it. Are you new to the country?

I can't see where OP said it was cut, I had assumed it was fallen branches from a storm or something. OP - was it cut, or was it obviously near a tree and therefore broken off or was it "dumped" ?

Although since you have returned it I think you should consider the matter closed as the police aren't going to waste their time over it. However if they do come then get them to clarify on the law regarding broken branches on council verges so you know for the future.

Totally get this, and quite obviously we wouldn’t be taking anything we knew belonged to people. It genuinely looked like bits of branch off a tree. Although I get that it was someone’s tree.

In relation to the woman, I struggle to see how she was justified in following us home and shouting abuse at us. She surely should have just gone to the police to deal with it. Because she was very abusive. The tree definitely wasn’t hers.

It looked as though it had come off a tree, there are hundreds in our area. They were maybe 3/4ft branches and there were 3 of them.

Bits of old tree = wood

We had a tree felled last year (at significant expense) and the wood stacked next to where the tree had been. It was on our section of a shared driveway. We intended to move it at the weekend and put it into the wood store to dry out. We factored this into the cost of felling the tree.

i popped into town for three hours and when I got back the lot was gone.

Don’t take wood that doesn’t belong to you. All land belongs to someone. It’s theft.

But that is totally different to OPs scenario. Yours had been cut. And stacked. And a huge amount. And on a driveway.

I wouldn't worry it's basically a branch .

I live in the country and people leave stuff on the side of the road they just want taken all the time. I always thought it was universal code

Did you try posting on your area’s Facebook pages or asking the neighbours if they say anything? That’s really awful! And a bloody fortune to lose

We owned woodland and used to do this all the time - haul fallen branches from the middle of the copse out to the edge of our land so we could return with the trailer to pick them up from the roadside. The countryside isn’t neatly fenced in which is why the rule of the countryside is that you don’t take anything from land you don’t own without permission, whatever it looks like.

If I saw somebody taking my property or that of my neighbour, I’d pursue them for it back, and to be honest it wouldn’t really be my concern whether that upset them. I can understand that you were embarrassed because you’re just Mr and Mrs Clueless but Harmless and didn’t think you were doing anything wrong, but the weather has turned and the countryside will be full of people just like you looking for “free” firewood to save money, and she’ll be sick of it.