Stealing

Aye, learnt the lesson the hard way. Took it off for a second after nearly hitting it with some weights - was so focused that I just forgot about it till long after I'd gone.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Up to a point, finding £1 on the pavement would be finders Keepers. Finding a Purse with £100 in wouldn't be finders keepers.

as for the watch, i am sure if the owner wouldn't mind to have it back.
Click to expand...
^^

I agree.

Unless it's carkeys, in which case the car owner deserves to have his car boosted to teach him a lesson in stupidity.
 
pretty cool watch, sorry to hear of your loss, i hope they report it/was seen on tv - though if they have cctv in changing rooms that would be a bit wierd no?
 
Hmm, I'd say its stealing. (even if you dont want it to be :p)

Just return it back to him, im sure he'd be happy to have it back!

- Denic
 
Pretty smart looking watch. I'd definately let the gym know you've lost it and give them a photo of it with your contact details or something in case it gets handed in.

Failing that, if it's valuable enough to be worth claiming, get a crime number and claim from your insurance.


denic2k6 said:
Hmm, I'd say its stealing. (even if you dont want it to be :p)
Click to expand...

P.s., I'm also amazed that people read the first post, jump to a conclusion, and don't read the rest of the thread where that conclusion has already been debunked!
 
.SJ said:
It's amazing the amount of people that jumped to the conclusion that you walked off with someone elses property. :confused:
Click to expand...

Based on the original post I don't think it's amazing at all?

Is it considered stealing if you pick up a watch that doesn't belong to you at the gym, after the owner had long since left as they'd forgotten about it?
Click to expand...

Now that we know why he wanted to know it makes sense but at the time the obvious assumption is that he's found a watch and wondering if he can keep it. Sort of like the assumption you make when you hear someone say "how do you cure impotency? i'm asking for a friend" :rolleyes:

It always amazes me how many people don't read the whole thread - even when it's under a page
Click to expand...

:D
 
If its an expensive watch and the guy who left it was wearing an *insert expensive suit here* and you are poor then keep it, but if its the other way round you should hand it in IMO.

EDIT: DOH should have read rest of the post :rolleyes:

Mark
 
Mark A said:
If its an expensive watch and the guy who left it was wearing an *insert expensive suit here* and you are poor then keep it, but if its the other way round you should hand it in IMO.

EDIT: DOH should have read rest of the post :rolleyes:

Mark
Click to expand...

Lol :rolleyes:

edit: your edit beat my quote, darn :D
 
Beansprout said:
It's classified as theft by finding
Click to expand...
Correct.

If you don't take reasonable steps to return it to the legal owner then you are guilty of this. What constitutes "reasonable" depends on what was found. A good look round for a £1 would suffice for example.
 
Where do you guys get this stuff from?? :confused:

"Stealing by finding" what on earth is that???? And if you hand property in to plod it's a much shorter period than six months before you can claim it as yours.


To answer the OP, yes, if somebody finds your watch and keeps it even though you have mislaid or forgotten about it then it is theft. They must take reasonable steps to find the owner befopre they can legally keep it, Unless they put up flyer around the gym, handed it in as lost property or handed it to the local nick then they have not taken reasonable steps and have therefore stolen it.

P.S. Wasn't having a pop at those who posted the above, just wondered where you got it from? Especially as two of you both said "theft by finding" and "stealing by finding"???
 
"Stealing by finding" is a genuine term which is used from time to time, I think people have been found guilty of this sort of thing. A quick google finds nothing conclusive but plenty of " 'Stealing by finding' is an offence under UK law" sort of quotes.

It's certainly not nonsense, I remember a policeman visiting school many years ago mentioning it as an offence - anyone know any more?

One example: "If you find a stray dog and do not report it to the dog wardens you may be considered to be guilty of stealing by finding", from http://www.bordercollierescue.org/news_and_views/Content/Stolen.html
 
Last edited:
PinkPig said:
"Stealing by finding" is a genuine term which is used from time to time, I think people have been found guilty of this sort of thing. A quick google finds nothing conclusive but plenty of " 'Stealing by finding' is an offence under UK law" sort of quotes.

It's certainly not nonsense, I remember a policeman visiting school many years ago mentioning it as an offence - anyone know any more?
Click to expand...
It's difficult to do this without sounding petty or a know-it-all, it's hard to tell someone's tone in writing but i promise my intentions are good :)

There is no such thing as "Stealing by finding", it's simply theft.

The definition is
A person commits theft if he:-
Dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it
Click to expand...
So simply "finding" something and not taking reasonable steps to find the owner is covered by the "dishonestly appropriates" part.
 
Chris [BEANS] said:
So simply "finding" something and not taking reasonable steps to find the owner is covered by the "dishonestly appropriates" part.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, seems quite reasonable that it's an occassionally-used colloquialism for a particular type of theft rather than anything legally distinct. It's an expression, it wasn't just made up by a couple of crazy folks on the forums!

The point still stands, you are guilty of a crime if you find something of value and don't take reasonable steps to return it to its owner.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom