"Woman arrested for salvaging perfectly good food dumped on street corner"

Wolfe Tone

"When Sasha Hall, a 21-year-old woman from England, was approached by police officers for trying to salvage some of the 3,000 pounds of perfectly-good food that had been dumped on the street following a power outage at a Tesco grocery story, she had no idea that she would later be arrested at her home for it. Police tracked the woman down after she had taken the goods and charged her with “theft by finding,” despite the fact that the food was just sitting on the curbside in bags for anyone to take.

“It had been thrown out, so I thought I could put it to better use,” Hall told reporters. “I would think the police have better things to be doing with their time than going after people who pick up potato waffles from the street. It’s all been blown totally out of proportion.”

During a time when oil and food prices are skyrocketing and millions of people are without employment, Hall makes a very good point. And the scenario was not a typical one involving expired food that had simply been discarded in the store’s dumpster after going out of date, which is a common practice among grocery chains. The vast majority of the food in this case was literally just sitting on the curb following the unexpected power outage.

Ironically, Tesco’s motto is “Every Little Helps,” but apparently salvaging perfectly good food from a curbside does not apply. The chain would rather have a ton-and-a-half of ham, pies, and other goodies needlessly rot than to allow individuals to put the food to good use. Due to the unique circumstances of the event, the company could have at least chosen to donate the food to local charities or homeless shelters, say critics."

http://aftermathnews.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/woman-arrested-for-salvaging-perfectly-good-food-dumped-on-street-corner/

Another source:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0224/1224290733484.html

Hopefully there isnt another thread on this!

I read this earlier and I was disgusted, the food was dumped, destined to be burned, and she was arrested for taking it? Absolute joke.

Poor Uncle Tom

That's just using the law to commit crime...wasting food.

Links234

what a disgrace

conor-mr2

So stew-pid

AlmightyCushion

It certainly does seem like an idiotic decision all right and a poor interpretation of the law as I understand it.

amacachi

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

http://aftermathnews.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/woman-arrested-for-salvaging-perfectly-good-food-dumped-on-street-corner/

Another source:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0224/1224290733484.html

Hopefully there isnt another thread on this!

I read this earlier and I was disgusted, the food was dumped, destined to be burned, and she was arrested for taking it? Absolute joke.

On the thread about Dublin Bus originally not having Irish on their new signs you said it was the law, so is this. So why are you disgusted by this? She broke the law and the police are upholding the law.

Rodin

At what point is it no longer property of Tesco?

Captain_Generic

Now, she is facing a charge of theft by finding for allegedly taking £215.16 of food, including 100 packs of ham, after a store manager heard footsteps on the roof and saw men pulling the bags of food from the bins.

Who were these men and why is she being charged?

dollyk

They dont like you to take food that has been binned , because if you get sick, because you refroze it, or become ill you can still sue the store.

Aodan83

Rodin wrote: »

At what point is it no longer property of Tesco?

The point where you give them money for it. If you find it in a landfill in 6 months (because it was preserved by witchcraft) you still have to pay them for it.

AlmightyCushion

dollyk wrote: »

They dont like you to take food that has been binned , because if you get sick, because you refroze it, or become ill you can still sue the store.

That can't be true and if it is it certainly shouldn't be the case. Do you have anything to back it up as I'd be interested in seeing if it is actually true.

My name is URL

Absolute madness. It happens here too.. a mate of mine is a manager of a supermarket in Dundalk and he was telling me that they had to lock up their bins and place them under security cameras because 'freegans' were taking newly thrown out food from them. That's what the law should try to tackle.. not the people availing of the waste these conglomerates produce.

phasers

How could you sue the store? You pulled it out of their bins!

The law should be as soon as it's in the bin it's not the shop's responsibility anymore. Wouldn't this suit everyone?

amacachi

My name is URL wrote: »

Absolute madness. It happens here too.. a mate of mine is a manager of a supermarket in Dundalk and he was telling me that they had to lock up their bins and place them under security cameras because 'freegans' were taking newly thrown out food from them. That's what the law should try to tackle.. not the people availing of the waste these conglomerates produce.

Superquinn used to give out all the leftover bread on a Sunday to the staff, I always wondering why they didn't just bake less. :pac: Also Tesco on a Saturday evening can be good for meat bargains!

Kimono-Girl

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

It certainly does seem like an idiotic decision all right and a poor interpretation of the law as I understand it.

i agree, why they don't apply common sense to certain cases :rolleyes:....

smk89

Well she is hasn't been judged yet. I have the suspicion that the second the jury hear how ridiculous the charges are they will be dropped.

phasers

/remembers when lidl used to give away free plants and bunches of flowers every Sunday evening

Sofiztikated

amacachi wrote: »

On the thread about Dublin Bus originally not having Irish on their new signs you said it was the law, so is this. So why are you disgusted by this? She broke the law and the police are upholding the law.

Because it's Tesco, and Wolfie don't like dem Brits.

:P

It's daft, but think of it like this, if she got food poisoning from some of it, due to improper storage conditions, they'd probably get screwed in court.

Guy:Incognito

phasers wrote: »

How could you sue the store? You pulled it out of their bins!

Who's to say you didnt buy it and got sick? I;m sure there are people willing to perjure themsleves and say they bought it.

peasant

But get this ...if Tesco had wanted to donate the food, hand it out to the poor, make a barbeque and invite the homeless ...whatever ...

They themselves would be in huuuge trouble with the law because of 'elth and safety issues and anybody eating that food could later fake an upset tummy and successfully sue them.

Something's badly broken here ...

AlmightyCushion

smk89 wrote: »

Well she is hasn't been judged yet. I have the suspicion that the second the jury hear how ridiculous the charges are they will be dropped.

Very true but still a waste of tax-payers money.

barleybooley

It's food for thought alright.

smk89

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Very true but still a waste of tax-payers money.

English tax-payers money. Their problem.

It seems like the kind of thing that the daily mail would feature prominently on one page complaining about the decrease in intelligence while showing Jordans new tits a few pages later on

grungepants

Freegans are awsome.Corperations are ****e.

Knasher

amacachi wrote: »

Superquinn used to give out all the leftover bread on a Sunday to the staff, I always wondering why they didn't just bake less.

I'd guess it's because if they run out, their customers will have to go elsewhere to buy their bread and may get into the habit of shopping elsewhere. Better for them to give away free bread to their employees than lose customers.

jackiebaron

amacachi wrote: »

On the thread about Dublin Bus originally not having Irish on their new signs you said it was the law, so is this. So why are you disgusted by this? She broke the law and the police are upholding the law.

Wait a minute. What law did she break? Granted there's probably some law that this "theft by finding" applies to such as finding a wallet and keeping the contents or any other opportunistic infraction but this gear was dumped. This whole mentality of wanting to prevent anyone from catching a lucky break is sick. People just want to prevent anyone from having a spot of luck from once in a while. I worked in a country club in the US for several summers and the amount of food dumped in the bins each evening was shocking. Massive bowls of fruit salad, vats of lovely soups, cakes with one slice cut out from them. Needless to say me and the other (Irish and Mexican) waiters helped ourselves to a bowl of soup or fruit salad before it was tossed out but the American kids just thought it was normal. Not one of them suggested bagging up a load of it and bringing it home to their mothers. Amazing.

drunkmonkey

There's no way the headline of this thread is fact. If it was dumped on a street corner it's Tesco who would be in court.

From a quick glance of the story the accused was in a private area of a business premises and took it upon herself to go through their bins and take goods without permission of the business.

She was thieving somewhere she shouldn't have been without permission, hang her high.

jackiebaron

dollyk wrote: »

They dont like you to take food that has been binned , because if you get sick, because you refroze it, or become ill you can still sue the store.

Not true. You can only sue if you get sick after PURCHASING something that was within it's sell-by date but turned out to be off. You can't sue Tesco if you get sick from stuff they've dumped.

jackiebaron

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

That can't be true and if it is it certainly shouldn't be the case. Do you have anything to back it up as I'd be interested in seeing if it is actually true.

So if the binmen took it away are they guilty of theft?

amacachi

Knasher wrote: »

I'd guess it's because if they run out, their customers will have to go elsewhere to buy their bread and may get into the habit of shopping elsewhere. Better for them to give away free bread to their employees than lose customers.

You'd be amazed how much it was though, not just a few loaves or buns, and it was every single week without fail.

jackiebaron wrote: »

Wait a minute. What law did she break? Granted there's probably some law that this "theft by finding" applies to such as finding a wallet and keeping the contents or any other opportunistic infraction but this gear was dumped. This whole mentality of wanting to prevent anyone from catching a lucky break is sick. People just want to prevent anyone from having a spot of luck from once in a while. I worked in a country club in the US for several summers and the amount of food dumped in the bins each evening was shocking. Massive bowls of fruit salad, vats of lovely soups, cakes with one slice cut out from them. Needless to say me and the other (Irish and Mexican) waiters helped ourselves to a bowl of soup or fruit salad before it was tossed out but the American kids just thought it was normal. Not one of them suggested bagging up a load of it and bringing it home to their mothers. Amazing.

I don't think she should be done for it, I was asking Wolfe Tone why he was using different logic here than elsewhere. One minute "the law is the law and should be upheld" and the next it isn't.

DubTony

The Irish Times report says that the store manager heard footsteps on the roof and that he saw men pulling the bags of food from the bin. Not exactly sitting on the road, was it? If it's in a bin, it's still the property of the bin owner. And in court, a prosecutor said that the bin was in a service yard, not out the front.

Sounds like theft to me. Plain and simple.

Run_to_da_hills

Cops were right to arrest her.

She was rummaging through a dumpster for food that was condemned by supermarket management.

What if rats had pissed all over the packaging and food risking spreading weil's disease on to her kids?

She can count herself lucky that welfare has not taken her kids away.

RichieC

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Cops were right to arrest her.

She was rummaging through a dumpster for food that was condemned by supermarket management.

What if rats had pissed all over the packaging and food risking spreading weil's disease on to her kids?

She can count herself lucky that welfare has not taken her kids away.

:rolleyes:

mlumley

The woman in question has an arguement against the charge. If the food was thrown out and not wanted by the owner, she can take it. Theft by finding is if you drop something on the street and someone picks it up and keeps it, that is theft by finding. How do I know. My solisitor sucsesfuly argued it after I took something from a skip and was charged with theft by finding. Mind you, she has to get Tesco to say no they didnot want it and was throwing it away.

jackiebaron

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Cops were right to arrest her.

She was rummaging through a dumpster for food that was condemned by supermarket management.

What if rats had pissed all over the packaging and food risking spreading weil's disease on to her kids?

She can count herself lucky that welfare has not taken her kids away.

Now that's a bit of a stretch. Maybe if you think hard enough you can get her done for domestic terrorism.

themadchef

dollyk wrote: »

They dont like you to take food that has been binned , because if you get sick, because you refroze it, or become ill you can still sue the store.

I remember freezers going down in Dunnes years ago in the stores. Binned it all.... I was horrified and threy used the above line... Still asked me if i wanted any for the canteen though :pac:

jackiebaron

themadchef wrote: »

I remember freezers going down in Dunnes years ago in the stores. Binned it all.... I was horrified and threy used the above line... Still asked me if i wanted any for the canteen though :pac:

I would have gladly taken the lot to the canteen and cooked it all...just fire it all into the oven....practise my culinary skills on all the meat and fish. Then just give it away once it's cooked. It can be refrozen then.

themadchef

jackiebaron wrote: »

I would have gladly taken the lot to the canteen and cooked it all...just fire it all into the oven....practise my culinary skills on all the meat and fish. Then just give it away once it's cooked. It can be refrozen then.

Why do you think giving it away cooked makes it less likely people will sue you for food poisoning? I asked why they didint give it to St Vincent De Paul etc... Point is even if you nuked it the "claim" issue doesn't go away

These were the store freezers btw, bigger than shop floor ones and there musta been a whole skip of food wasted. Staff didint even take it home (as far as i could see anyway). Crying shame but the managers were following protocol (or so they said)

kumate_champ07

dollyk wrote: »

They dont like you to take food that has been binned , because if you get sick, because you refroze it, or become ill you can still sue the store.

no they say that they dont want people do take out of date food because they can be sued, it's nothing to do with it being in a bin. thats why they throw it in a bin. if someone takes the 'perished' food from a rubbish bin its not really a crime

I know that M&S in Newbridge Kildare would spray bleach into the bags of food, like fuit&veg, bread, pastries and cookies, then throw them in a skip out back

phantom_lord

If there had been something wrong with the food and she had suffered would there have been any liabilty on the part of tesco?

Wolfe Tone

phantom_lord wrote: »

If there had been something wrong with the food and she had suffered would there have been any liabilty on the part of tesco?

You should start a thread over on the legal issues forum, much more likely to get an informed answer there mate.

melekalikimaka

extremely dangerous robbing binned goods, the woman must have been fierce desperate, so pity for her, but there are laws in place to stop this happening for good reason, a friend who works for meat distributors explained this to me, details not exactly but I do believe the shop gets in alot of trouble for letting folk take the meat even for free

StupidLikeAFox

The woman has a fairly rock solid defence. "Finders keepers, losers weepers"

Wolfe Tone

melekalikimaka wrote: »

extremely dangerous robbing binned goods, the woman must have been fierce desperate, so pity for her, but there are laws in place to stop this happening for good reason, a friend who works for meat distributors explained this to me, details not exactly but I do believe the shop gets in alot of trouble for letting folk take the meat even for free

The food wasnt out of date or anything, they could have just given it away.

melekalikimaka

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

The food wasnt out of date or anything, they could have just given it away.

well there was clearly something wrong with it that the shop felt it was too risky to sell in their store, so at a loss to them they threw it away in the interest of public health...only for some opportunist to take it

jackiebaron

themadchef wrote: »

Why do you think giving it away cooked makes it less likely people will sue you for food poisoning? I asked why they didint give it to St Vincent De Paul etc... Point is even if you nuked it the "claim" issue doesn't go away

These were the store freezers btw, bigger than shop floor ones and there musta been a whole skip of food wasted. Staff didint even take it home (as far as i could see anyway). Crying shame but the managers were following protocol (or so they said)

Can you really sue someone if they GIVE you something that you are perfectly entitled to refuse? I mean if I was to give you a sandwich or a cigarette or a can of coke and it made you sick.....could you in all honesty find grounds to sue me? When you purchase it from me we enter a contract whereby I am providing you with a product and certain conditions apply. If I just give you something then it's a non-binding transaction. Like if I had an old car and I said to you "madchef, I've got this old banger that I'm going to scrap. She still runs. Dunno if anything's wrong but she's your's if you want." Can you really sue me if you crash the thing and injure yourself because the brakes were shot to shït?

Wolfe Tone

melekalikimaka wrote: »

well there was clearly something wrong with it that the shop felt it was too risky to sell in their store, so at a loss to them they threw it away in the interest of public health...only for some opportunist to take it

The power cut and the fridges went down that day. They were only down a short time. The food was fine.

jackiebaron

ColHol wrote: »

The woman has a fairly rock solid defence. "Finders keepers, losers weepers"

But it wasn't lost, it was dumped. If I take an old chair that I don't want anymore and leave it out on the pavement and someone decides "Ah, that'll do me" and takes the chair....have I "lost" the chair? Can they be done for "theft by finding" and can they sue me if they bring the chair home, sit on it and fall through the thing and break their bollocks?

My name is URL

melekalikimaka wrote: »

well there was clearly something wrong with it that the shop felt it was too risky to sell in their store, so at a loss to them they threw it away in the interest of public health...only for some opportunist to take it

They threw it away because of the public's dislike for food that doesn't fit a pre-held notion of what it should look like on a shelf. All supermarkets do this. They sell a small percentage of it at a discount but can only hold so much of it on the 'discount' aisle, and bin the rest.

They're not in the wrong for throwing it away either.. as people have said, even giving it away carries a risk of litigation. It's the laws surrounding the whole thing that suck. It should be changed so that anyone accepting the discarded food agrees to not hold the shops liable for any damages

melekalikimaka

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

The power cut and the fridges went down that day. They were only down a short time. The food was fine.

i know for a fact fridge downtime even for an hour can affect frozen goods, your making alot of assumptions here. why would they throw out the food otherwise?

melekalikimaka

My name is URL wrote: »

They threw it away because of the public's dislike for food that doesn't fit a pre-held notion of what it should look like on a shelf. All supermarkets do this. They sell a small percentage of it at a discount but can only hold so much of it on the 'discount' aisle, and bin the rest.

They're not in the wrong for throwing it away either.. as people have said, even giving it away carries a risk of litigation. It's the laws surrounding the whole thing that suck. It should be changed so that anyone accepting the discarded food agrees to not hold the shops liable for any damages

and what if the person dies, the blame will fall on the shop for providing the food, free or paid for