Is it ok to steal from shops?

[Dingdell]

I read today that shops are starting to tag the more expensive cuts of meat like topside of beef to curb an anticipated increase in theft of meat because of the economic problems.

I was speaking to a cashier at TK Max last week who told me that they suffer from just over £2k a day in shoplifiting in their shop alone. (Not sure how true that is it seems an awful lot) He then went on to say that for the first hour of opening they experience the most shoplifting and the police regularly park outside to save time for this hour. Their best 'haul' that week had been 7 shoplifters in the first hour of trading.

I'm not sure if there is a difference between stealing food or cushions. I know I have stolen time, phonecalls, pens and post it notes from employers in the past so I am not entirely innocent.

If I were desperate and needed to feed my family would I be capable of stealing? I probably would if I had hungry childen to feed but my first port of call would be to my family and friends, if only to blag a meal off them to help me out. How bad does it have to be to steal from a stranger?

Lastly - if I were to steal from a shop to feed my family I would be stealing basics like bread, mince, pasta, things I can make go further with creative cooking. Stealing topside of beef would be pointless, so is it the really desperate that are stealing topside or those that just fancy something a bit more pricey this week for Sunday lunch?

[bolt pp]

lol, it's not people stealing steak to feed their family, it's drug addicts that will have regular customers to whom they sell the meet on to.

irrespective of the current economic climate in this country there isn't a person who would have top steal food in fear of starvation for themself or their family.

[Jon MW]

I suspect that it's a lot easier to steal topside of beef then it is crates of beer and fags - therefore steal the food and use the money saved to buy the alcohol and fags.

The most likely alternative to this is that you do this 100 times a year and sell of the meat at the pub, the money you make is well worth the hassle of the 2 or 3 times you get in trouble with the law.

I don't expect any of the people involved in shoplifting food are doing it because it's the only way to feed their family.

[AndrewT]

TK Maxx shops are such a mess (rails close up against each other, stuffed with twice as many clothes as they can cope with, resulting in clothes all over the floor) that they must be a shoplifter's paradise - it seems very easy to shove some stuff up your jumper.

Shoplifters are generally not stealing stuff for consumption - they're stealing to sell it on (for booze or drugs), so they don't care what they take, as long as they think someone will buy it.

[Dingdell]

Oh. In my niave little world I had visions of the widows mite stealing to feed the family. I had forgotten about the drugs option.

Andrew - TK Max Milton Keynes - the best organised TK Max in the world.

[Robert HM]

lol, it's not people stealing steak to feed their family, it's drug addicts that will have regular customers to whom they sell the meet on to.

irrespective of the current economic climate in this country there isn't a person who would have top steal food in fear of starvation for themself or their family.

In the same way I agree with your first comment I disagree with your second.

Yes addicts are stealing to fund their habit, I see the result each week. However the Benefits Agency is so bureaucratic that many cliams are waiting to be processed or stopped by mistake leaving people without the ability to feed themselves or families.

[Dingdell]

lol, it's not people stealing steak to feed their family, it's drug addicts that will have regular customers to whom they sell the meet on to.

irrespective of the current economic climate in this country there isn't a person who would have top steal food in fear of starvation for themself or their family.

In the same way I agree with your first comment I disagree with your second.

Yes addicts are stealing to fund their habit, I see the result each week. However the Benefits Agency is so bureaucratic that many cliams are waiting to be processed or stopped by mistake leaving people without the ability to feed themselves or families.

Doesn't this say something about society? We have to steal now whereas as a community we would have got together and helped each other out? Have we becaome a world where we rely on the state and ignore the help closer to hand?

[Robert HM]

lol, it's not people stealing steak to feed their family, it's drug addicts that will have regular customers to whom they sell the meet on to.

irrespective of the current economic climate in this country there isn't a person who would have top steal food in fear of starvation for themself or their family.

In the same way I agree with your first comment I disagree with your second.

Yes addicts are stealing to fund their habit, I see the result each week. However the Benefits Agency is so bureaucratic that many cliams are waiting to be processed or stopped by mistake leaving people without the ability to feed themselves or families.

Doesn't this say something about society? We have to steal now whereas as a community we would have got together and helped each other out? Have we becaome a world where we rely on the state and ignore the help closer to hand?

There are some who have no family or the like to whom they can turn.

[bolt pp]

lol, it's not people stealing steak to feed their family, it's drug addicts that will have regular customers to whom they sell the meet on to.

irrespective of the current economic climate in this country there isn't a person who would have top steal food in fear of starvation for themself or their family.

In the same way I agree with your first comment I disagree with your second.

Yes addicts are stealing to fund their habit, I see the result each week. However the Benefits Agency is so bureaucratic that many cliams are waiting to be processed or stopped by mistake leaving people without the ability to feed themselves or families.

i struggle to believe that's true(to that extent anyway) where people could be allowed to go without the means to live.

I can believe that the ineptitude of government would create a backlog in payments and other bureaucratic delays but not to a point where people cant eat?

I can think of three examples of people who i know claim benefit........a woman in her 40s who gets sick money, and friend who signs on and a girl with 3 children, i know they dont all get the same kind of benefit but am also aware of never hearing of them having to go without food or having money for utilities; surely theres not a person in the country that if cannot provide for themselves are not entitled to a state benefit that is sufficient to provide them with at least the basic necessities?

[Jon MW]

I don't think there has ever been any time in history where people haven't stolen: either because they were poor, or just as a career choice.

[kinboshi]

lol, it's not people stealing steak to feed their family, it's drug addicts that will have regular customers to whom they sell the meet on to.

irrespective of the current economic climate in this country there isn't a person who would have top steal food in fear of starvation for themself or their family.

In the same way I agree with your first comment I disagree with your second.

Yes addicts are stealing to fund their habit, I see the result each week. However the Benefits Agency is so bureaucratic that many cliams are waiting to be processed or stopped by mistake leaving people without the ability to feed themselves or families.

Doesn't this say something about society? We have to steal now whereas as a community we would have got together and helped each other out? Have we becaome a world where we rely on the state and ignore the help closer to hand?

Doesn't it say a lot for the advancement of civilisation that we pay taxes and donate to charities to help people who live outside our communities?  This benevolent altruism is far less selfish an act than looking after someone in the local community (who in primitive human times would be someone who was most likely a close relative and therefore people would have a vested interested in helping them).

The fact that the majority of people don't have to steal or beg to live is a positive aspect of society, isn't it?

[Jon MW]

lol, it's not people stealing steak to feed their family, it's drug addicts that will have regular customers to whom they sell the meet on to.

irrespective of the current economic climate in this country there isn't a person who would have top steal food in fear of starvation for themself or their family.

In the same way I agree with your first comment I disagree with your second.

Yes addicts are stealing to fund their habit, I see the result each week. However the Benefits Agency is so bureaucratic that many cliams are waiting to be processed or stopped by mistake leaving people without the ability to feed themselves or families.

i struggle to believe that's true(to that extent anyway) where people could be allowed to go without the means to live.

I can believe that the ineptitude of government would create a backlog in payments and other bureaucratic delays but not to a point where people cant eat?

I can think of three examples of people who i know claim benefit........a woman in her 40s who gets sick money, and friend who signs on and a girl with 3 children, i know they dont all get the same kind of benefit but am also aware of never hearing of them having to go without food or having money for utilities; surely theres not a person in the country that if cannot provide for themselves are not entitled to a state benefit that is sufficient to provide them with at least the basic necessities?

I suspect that it happens, but only to a statistically insignificant extent.

It would mean a family being left with literally no money, as when they have any money at all then food will get bought.

[Robert HM]

lol, it's not people stealing steak to feed their family, it's drug addicts that will have regular customers to whom they sell the meet on to.

irrespective of the current economic climate in this country there isn't a person who would have top steal food in fear of starvation for themself or their family.

In the same way I agree with your first comment I disagree with your second.

Yes addicts are stealing to fund their habit, I see the result each week. However the Benefits Agency is so bureaucratic that many cliams are waiting to be processed or stopped by mistake leaving people without the ability to feed themselves or families.

i struggle to believe that's true(to that extent anyway) where people could be allowed to go without the means to live.

I can believe that the ineptitude of government would create a backlog in payments and other bureaucratic delays but not to a point where people cant eat?

I can think of three examples of people who i know claim benefit........a woman in her 40s who gets sick money, and friend who signs on and a girl with 3 children, i know they dont all get the same kind of benefit but am also aware of never hearing of them having to go without food or having money for utilities; surely theres not a person in the country that if cannot provide for themselves are not entitled to a state benefit that is sufficient to provide them with at least the basic necessities?

Please believe. I can think of 3 recent examples I have come across where this has happened.

[monkeyboy888]

IS it ok to steal from shops?

No. End of story.

[bolt pp]

lol, it's not people stealing steak to feed their family, it's drug addicts that will have regular customers to whom they sell the meet on to.

irrespective of the current economic climate in this country there isn't a person who would have top steal food in fear of starvation for themself or their family.

In the same way I agree with your first comment I disagree with your second.

Yes addicts are stealing to fund their habit, I see the result each week. However the Benefits Agency is so bureaucratic that many cliams are waiting to be processed or stopped by mistake leaving people without the ability to feed themselves or families.

i struggle to believe that's true(to that extent anyway) where people could be allowed to go without the means to live.

I can believe that the ineptitude of government would create a backlog in payments and other bureaucratic delays but not to a point where people cant eat?

I can think of three examples of people who i know claim benefit........a woman in her 40s who gets sick money, and friend who signs on and a girl with 3 children, i know they dont all get the same kind of benefit but am also aware of never hearing of them having to go without food or having money for utilities; surely theres not a person in the country that if cannot provide for themselves are not entitled to a state benefit that is sufficient to provide them with at least the basic necessities?

Please believe. I can think of 3 recent examples I have come across where this has happened.

illegal immigrants aside, a British citizen not entitled to any benefit and the state happy for them to go without, under what circumstances could that happen?

i know you cant divulge specifics if it's from something you've encountered in your profession but if you can generalise i'd be interested to know?