Queues taking ages, rushed or starving and unable to resist? One of these factors may be reason enough to break the law, says criminal law expert, warning shoppers of serious charges
You’ll want to remember this next time you pop into to Aldi, Sainsbury’s or Tesco.
We all know it’s a schoolboy error to head to the shops while hungry. As the basket fills up, opening a packet of crisps or biscuits before checkout is something many of us are guilty of – especially those with children or pregnancy cravings. However, few people realise that what feels like a harmless act is actually breaking British law.
Considered illegal in the UK, the crime falls under the 1968 Theft Act, which covers the “intention of permanently depriving the other of it [an item]”. So before you cave into temptation amongst the shopping aisles, here’s what you should know.
Found in Section six of the law, it reads: “A person appropriating property belonging to another without meaning the other permanently to lose the thing itself is nevertheless to be regarded as having the intention of permanently depriving the other of it if his intention is to treat the thing as his own to dispose of regardless of the other’s rights.
“And a borrowing or lending of it may amount to so treating it if, but only if, the borrowing or lending is for a period and in circumstances making it equivalent to an outright taking or disposal”.
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It explains that “without prejudice to the generality of subsection above, where a person, having possession or control (lawfully or not) of property belonging to another, parts with the property under a condition as to its return, which he may not be able to perform, this (if done for purposes of his own and without the other’s authority) amounts to treating the property as his own to dispose of regardless of the other’s rights”.
In simpler terms, this means that even with the correct intention of paying for all items consumed or in your basket, you are still not exempt from the law. This is due to no advance payment made before consumption – that bottle of water or small chocolate you couldn’t wait for still belonged to the store as you consumed it.
Since the item is bought at the till, its whereabouts prior to the transaction is simply a transportation within the owner’s premises, and therefore, if the packaging is open and the item eaten, it has been stolen, according to the Metro.
Rachel Adamson, a criminal lawyer said: “Only when that sale is complete do you have the legal right to consume or use it. If you eat the chocolate before you legally own it, you are permanently depriving the owner of his right to the product – he can no longer refuse you the sale or take the item off the shelves,” our sister paper, the Liverpool Echo, reports.
It’s mostly down to the individual store’s management on whether preliminary snacking is treated as an offence. Shoppers have also been warned that the item itself could determine their fate. For example, if the product was a weigh-in loose fruit or vegetable, then this would directly affect the price as the cost would be considerably lightened.
Those considered offenders of the Theft Act should note that the crime is triable with a potential penalty of up to seven years in prison, and/or an unlimited fine, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The Echo spoke to one mother, who says she would do “whatever it takes to please her child” in the supermarket. “Listen, if my child is screaming for a cooked chicken leg or cocktail sausage… whilst shopping…. I’m breaking the law!”.
Coming to her defence, a second said: “Done a crate of ale [whilst] walking round. Still scanned it and paid, gave the security guard a tip”.
