Italian court rules food theft ‘not a crime’ if hungry

                                            The court found that the homeless man was acting "in a state of need" so his actions could not be considered offences.

 

 Stealing small amounts of food to quench your hunger is not a crime, Italy’s highest court of appeal has ruled. Judges overturned a theft conviction against Roman Ostriakov after he stole cheese and sausages worth €4.07 (£3; $4.50) from a supermarket. 

Mr Ostriakov, a homeless man of Ukrainian background, had taken the food “in the face of the immediate and essential need for nourishment”, the court of cassation decided.Therefore it was not a crime, it said.

Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation, made a final and definitive ruling changing the conviction entirely. Stealing small quantities of food to satisfy a vital need for food did not constitute a crime, the court wrote. “The condition of the defendant and the circumstances in which the seizure of merchandise took place prove that he took possession of that small amount of food in the face of an immediate and essential need for nourishment, acting therefore in a state of necessity,” wrote the court.
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Sources:By: BBC://citifmonline.com/2016/05/04/italian-court-rules-food-theft-not-a-crime-if-hungry/