Careful if you see money on the floor & pick it up.

Fishbait said:
Coroner?
Erm, that's an odd one, why a coroner?
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When the modern office of coroner was established in 1194, it was about a lot more than deaths. The full title translates to something like "keeper of the pleas of the crown". Their main job was to direct a variety of matters into the royal authority rather than local authorities (e.g. manorial courts, sheriffs' courts, etc). Partly in response to concerns about corruption (the office of sheriff in particular was ripe for corruption), partly to shift power towards the crown and partly to increase income to the crown. Some of that original purpose still exists, so even today a coroner has some jurisdiction other than investigating suspicious deaths. Finds of a wide variety of valuable things are classed as "treasure" to bring them under the coroner's jurisdiction, orginally to siphon the money off to the crown.
 
AHarvey said:
I was under the impression that it was for anything that you find, such as mobile phones.

As for this case, it should have simply been a case of the shop stopping the woman next time she came in and asking for it back so that it can be given the rightful owners, I think police and courts over £20 is rather wasteful of resources. Even if the police were involved, a simple police caution and returning the money should have been enough.
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I think you are right there, the LBC person mentioned it's "regarding money" however upon reading the law it seems to be anything.
 
I can't believe people are surprised that this is considered unlawful.... It's not yours - there is no such thing as "finders keepers..."

People seem to need to have their moral compasses re-calibrated.
 
If i saw someone drop money, I'd hand it back. But finding money dropped with no sign of anyone, i think most would pocket it.

The problem with handing it in, depends heavily on how honest the person you are handing it to is. What's to stop them just pocketing it?
 
Orionaut said:
It is easy for some.

£20 is pretty much half a days pay for somebody on minimum wage.

If somebody stole half a days worth of My income, DAMN RIGHT I would want them prosecuted.
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If they stole it out of your wallet, mugged you for it, broke into your car for it then yes, i'd agree, but if someone found it on the floor and pocketed it, I'd ask for it back and expect it back before I'd even consider prosecution.

There's illegal, and there is common sense. This wasn't done with any criminal intention, just a lack of thinking. No one was hurt and a simple police warning and the money returning should have been enough.
 
Freefaller said:
er... no.
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Orionaut said:
It is easy for some.

£20 is pretty much half a days pay for somebody on minimum wage.

If somebody stole half a days worth of My income, DAMN RIGHT I would want them prosecuted.
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The point you are missing is that it's not stealing, it's finding. You can't just prosecute someone because they found some money.

Get off your duck sized horse.
 
CaptainComedy said:
The point you are missing is that it's not stealing, it's finding. You can't just prosecute someone because they found some money.

Get off your duck sized horse.
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oh dear, you don't know the law and haven't read the thread, as its already in here.
there's a specific law for it, theft by finding. you have to take reasonable steps to return goods to owners, after that you get to keep it.
 
Yum crispy duck horse! :D

I'm just stating that it isn't yours. Pocketing it is not the right thing to do. I'm not personally suggesting prosecution, but at least handing the money to the store or the police is the right thing to do.

Sure it's only £20... but that is a reasonable amount of money for some people. I wouldn't be happy losing £20.

What's the difference between £20 on the floor, and £1m found? Nothing other than the fact that someone will be looking for the £1m, the £20 is unlikely to be noticed - however, it is still someone's money they have lost - that value of it is relatively inconsequential to the thought process that one should go through.
 
Glaucus said:
oh dear, you don't know the law and haven't read the thread, as its already in here.
there's a specific law for it, theft by finding. you have to take reasonable steps to return goods to owners, after that you get to keep it.
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Whether the person took reasonable steps or not to me is not worthy of prosecution. The person responsible lost it, another found it.

Whether you care or not of my opinion is your choice - but it's my opinion none the less. Had I lost that money and seen CCTV footage of someone picking it up, I wouldn't press charges!
 
CaptainComedy said:
Whether the person took reasonable steps or not to me is not worthy of prosecution. The person responsible lost it, another found it.

Whether you care or not of my opinion is your choice - but it's my opinion none the less. Had I lost that money and seen CCTV footage of someone picking it up, I wouldn't press charges!
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lol your opinion doesnt change that what you said was wrong, and your opinion does not trump Uk law.
you can absolutley get charged for it, as many people have.
 
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