Theft of charity bags can lead to prosecution

Crown Prosecution Service says they belong to the householder until collected, so taking them without permission is stealing

New government guidance says that people who steal charity bags can be prosecuted.

The guidelines, published yesterday by the Crown Prosecution Service, say that goods left outside for a charity belong to the householder until they are collected. But they say it must be obvious that the goods are intended for charity and are not abandoned.

The guidelines say it might help to get a conviction if the bags are labelled with the name of the charity and an explanation that the items inside have not been abandoned so to take them would be considered theft.

That the theft would damage the charity as well as the householder can also be taken into account when prosecuting, the guidelines say.

Arwel Jones, head of the law and procedure unit at the CPS, said: "Theft of charity bags is often an organised operation on an international scale involving large quantities of goods. It frustrates the good intentions of donors and causes loss of income to the charity.

"There are clear public interest factors in favour of prosecution and the aggravating factors involved in such thefts will be put forward for courts to take into consideration."

A spokeswoman for the Charity Retail Association said: "We welcome any further clarification by the Crown Prosecution Service on prosecution of thefts of charity bags and hope this leads to more successful prosecutions. Enforcement is very variable in different parts of the country, and we continue to lobby for better local enforcement and more appropriate sentencing for charity bag theft, which is often linked to criminal gangs."

From Third Sector Online

Photo by Alan Stanton on Flickr. Click photo to read Alan's blog post on this issue