Shop lifting - question ......

[Disenchanted3]

If you had (supposedly) never shoplifted before (or got caught) no warning, no previous and you got caught taking a can of coke and 99p sandwich ...

is it likely the shop would call the police and you would get £150 fine from shop and £130 court fine?

or would you say they have

had warnings before or took more than coke & butty.

or is that what would happen?

how can the shop fine you? Surely they don't have the power to issue fines?

Sorry - don't have a clue what would happen.

not me

Apparantly thats what happened, all i know is there were 2 fines of that amount.

anyone?

But it's theft. Follow that logic through and do you think someone who burgled your house should not be fined because they hadn't been caught or warned first?

The Shop fine was probably compensation or costs awarded tot he shop.

no, im not saying they shoundn't have been fined

im trying to determine if this really is the first time and if its likely more than coke & butty was taken.

I think shops have a zero tolerance approach to shoplifting whether it's your first offence or not.

So its likely that first time taking those items would result in £250 fine?

The police came to the shop, I heard somewhere they would not attend a shoplifting incident if the items yaken did not total over £20?

could be fine and court costs?

Sorry, I don't know whether you'd get that for a first offence.

Shops do not always call the Polie if they get th goods back if they are of a very low value.
The Police can use their discretion.
THey can give a verbal warning - if no previous.
THey can issue an on th spot fine - about £60 IIRC - again if the vaulue of goods is low nad no previous
OR they can arrest that person, take them to the Police staion - where they can be cautioned, charged or NFA'd.

Am I right in assuming that someone has given you an account of what happened to them or someone else, and you are wondering whether to believe it?

If someone was a first time offender and it was just a small amount of stuff taken AND they admitted it to the police, they could expect to get a caution.

If they were not a first time offender, but amount small and they admitted it to police, they would expect to go to court. Likely sentence, a fine, or a conditional discharge (don't do it again, or else) plus court costs and compensation equivalent to goods taken.

If they were a first time offender, but did not admit it to the police, they would be charged and sent to court.

Re police not coming out to small amounts taken - not usually true, though it would depend on police force.

Shops can't fine customers.

Hope this helps.

Thankyou, yes thats exactly it.

Someone has recieved £250 fine, cannot pay, someone else has paid it for them but been told they 'only took a sandwich & a can' and never done it before.

I am dubious.

A £130 fine + £150 costs is disproportinate for a sandwich and a can for a first offence, so yes you are right to be dubious.

The likely outcome in these circumstances, providing the person admitted the offence to the police, would be a caution.

If the person denied the offence then it would go to court, and almost certinally result in a condition discharge.

For costs of £150 to have been paid to the shop the theft must have been of a significant value, or there must have been aggravating circumstances, like and assault, whereby the fine is to compensate an individual.

£130 fine from a court seems right but its rare on such a small first offence it would get to court.

The chops can pursue a civil recovery and include costs rather than a "fine" as such.

Nope. If police are asked to attend they will. I have a friend who is an officer and he is often called to Primark where I live because some child has stolen earrings worth 50p or £1. It causes them so much paperwork.

youd get a conditional dicharge normally if oyu went to court - first time offfence.

the police can caution ONcE for each type of offence, so maybe they had been cautioned, thereofre it had to go to court. That is why you sometimes see peopel charged with theft of an apple, or criminal damage to a shoe

( oh yes)