How honest (or dumb) are you?

[A Century United]

It's theft by finding isn't it? You have to take appropriate steps to try and find the owner. Although no-ones going to report losing £20 to the police, £60,000 might be.

A spokeswoman for the Association of Chief Police Offers says: "There are no laws that I am aware of governing what you should do with a find – it is down to your conscience.

I despair. How did she get her job?

The finder of lost property acquires a possessory right by taking physical control of the property, but does not necessarily have ownership of the property. The finder must take reasonable steps to locate the owner.


Taking reasonable steps includes notifying the police. Also, there is every prospect of her being awarded the money if the original owner/source cannot be traced. My daughter spotted a pair of Nikon binoculars lying on the road, seems as if they had been left on the roof of a car and slid off. Handed them into the police and 6 weeks later as they were unclaimed we were handed them back. We now have a £900 pair of bino's and a clear conscience.

 

[Mad Cyril]

I despair. How did she get her job?

The finder of lost property acquires a possessory right by taking physical control of the property, but does not necessarily have ownership of the property. The finder must take reasonable steps to locate the owner.


Taking reasonable steps includes notifying the police. Also, there is every prospect of her being awarded the money if the original owner/source cannot be traced. My daughter spotted a pair of Nikon binoculars lying on the road, seems as if they had been left on the roof of a car and slid off. Handed them into the police and 6 weeks later as they were unclaimed we were handed them back. We now have a £900 pair of bino's and a clear conscience.

They sound just like the binoculars I lost whilst out collecting.money for charity on my way to do voluntary work for the needy.

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

hand it in...all day long. No ifs buts or maybes.

 

[A Century United]

They sound just like the binoculars I lost whilst out collecting.money for charity on my way to do voluntary work for the needy.

I shall return them forthwith.... Just remind which model and where you lost them, and I shall head to the post office!

:smile:

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

A spokeswoman for the Association of Chief Police Offers says: "There are no laws that I am aware of governing what you should do with a find – it is down to your conscience.

The lesson of Plebgate was surely not to trust the police.

 

[Jam_Man]

They sound just like the binoculars I lost whilst out collecting.money for charity on my way to do voluntary work for the needy.

Weird cos they sound like the binoculars I was using to look for my lost £60k

 

[davewebbsbrain]

So a woman finds £60K floating in a river in Lincolnshire and hands it to the police. Turns out she'll probably not get a penny of it and legally she could have kept it.

Me - that'd go in my bank account, even if it has come from nefarious means.

You?

Wasn't this sort of thing done a while ago and you got all sanctimonious about handing it in? I could be wrong.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I would keep it. If I found a wallet or bag/purse I would try and get it back to the owner.
Entering Roots Hall via the west entrance one, a guy I front of me dropped his wallet. A few people didn't spot it so when I got there the guy was quite a way ahead so to catch him I had to push past a few people before he disappeared. Was al worth it for the look of relief on his face when I gave it to, even though he hadn't yet realised it was missing.

This totally

 

[A Century United]

Wasn't this sort of thing done a while ago and you got all sanctimonious about handing it in? I could be wrong.

Not looking at anyone in particular, but how many of you "Keep" voters were fulminating over MP's expenses....?

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Not looking at anyone in particular, but how many of you "Keep" voters were fulminating over MP's expenses....?

Is finding money on the street and keeping it the same as MP's fiddling expenses? Just asking as I don't know the answer

I would keep money I found unless it was in a wallet and I would hand it in.

 

[Pubey]

Were the binoculars found at the bottom of a tree near Alan McCormack's bedroom window. If so, I might know who the owner is...

 

[TrueBlue]

I'd hand it in, I have a very vociferous conscience that gets in the way of me doing anything remotely the wrong side of the law. Blimey, I've found a tenner in the street before and put it in a charity box! :sad:

such a saint!!!

 

[Crabby Shrimper]

I'd have thought it highly unlikely that somebody would just accidentally lose £60,000 like that, so chances are it could be relating to criminal activity.

if that's the case, then:

1) Are the notes marked/numbers recorded?
2) Is the owner going to come searching for it?
3) If it's criminal activity, are you, by keeping it yourself, in effect withholding evidence?

Due to those points, I like to think I'd be sensible and hand it in. chances are though, it'd subtly find it's way into my back pocket, I'm only human, and it is a decent amount.

 

[Pubey]

I would have kept it, and done this....

  Spoiler:  

 

[A Century United]

Is finding money on the street and keeping it the same as MP's fiddling expenses? Just asking as I don't know the answer

I would keep money I found unless it was in a wallet and I would hand it in.

It's just another example of people adjusting their moral stance to suit their current situation.

 

[londonblue]

I would keep it. If I found a wallet or bag/purse I would try and get it back to the owner.
Entering Roots Hall via the west entrance one, a guy I front of me dropped his wallet. A few people didn't spot it so when I got there the guy was quite a way ahead so to catch him I had to push past a few people before he disappeared. Was al worth it for the look of relief on his face when I gave it to, even though he hadn't yet realised it was missing.

My wife lost her purse a few years ago. She was in a panic and ended up driving back to the shopping centre where she thought she had dropped it. She came home having not found it and in an even bigger panic. Just as she came in the door the phone rang. I answered it. It turned out to be a lady that had picked it up and gone through it to find a phone number to ring to give it back. That night we went round to hers to pick it up, and give her a huge bunch of flowers. There was nothing missing, not even a penny.

About a week after that I saw a bag all by itself on the train home from work. I asked around and no-one claimed it. I therefore took it home and tried to find the person who had left it. The wallet in the bag had loads of credit and debit cards, all with a name on them, but I couldn't find a phone number to go with it.

In the end I noticed a security tag on the set of keys in the bag. I rang the number and explained that I didn't expect them to give me a phone number, but asked then to ring the guy and give him my number. They did whilst I waited. I explained that the reason I had picked the bag up was a) because the same thing had happened to my wife about a week earlier, and b) if I had handed it in to lost property he would have cancelled all his cards by the time he got it back, which would have been a pain to sort out.

He turned up with a £50 bottle of wine to say thank you.

 

[MK Shrimper]

I think the whole wallet/purse thing is a bum steer because I'd imagine (hope!) that most of us would do the right thing. The £60K is an entirely different matter as it look like (and it's vanished from the news) there was no way of tracing who it belonged to.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

My wife lost her purse a few years ago. She was in a panic and ended up driving back to the shopping centre where she thought she had dropped it. She came home having not found it and in an even bigger panic. Just as she came in the door the phone rang. I answered it. It turned out to be a lady that had picked it up and gone through it to find a phone number to ring to give it back. That night we went round to hers to pick it up, and give her a huge bunch of flowers. There was nothing missing, not even a penny.

About a week after that I saw a bag all by itself on the train home from work. I asked around and no-one claimed it. I therefore took it home and tried to find the person who had left it. The wallet in the bag had loads of credit and debit cards, all with a name on them, but I couldn't find a phone number to go with it.

In the end I noticed a security tag on the set of keys in the bag. I rang the number and explained that I didn't expect them to give me a phone number, but asked then to ring the guy and give him my number. They did whilst I waited. I explained that the reason I had picked the bag up was a) because the same thing had happened to my wife about a week earlier, and b) if I had handed it in to lost property he would have cancelled all his cards by the time he got it back, which would have been a pain to sort out.

He turned up with a £50 bottle of wine to say thank you.

Nice stories.

My wife found a ladies purse in a bag (with various credit cards in it but no cash) when she was taking some rubbish out, (normally my job but I was working) on market day here, a few years ago now.
Obviously the thief had dumped the purse in the bins near us, after first removing the cash.
She immediately phoned up the number in the purse only to be answered by a rather suspicious sounding husband,(according to her).The guy came round about 5 minutes later.He didn't seem best pleased that there was no cash in the purse.
I jokingly told my wife that he (or his wife)would be back with some flowers for her that evening.No such luck.

Moral.Not everyone is as nice about this sort of thing as they should be.

 

[RobM]

Doing the right thing doesn't always pay! Many moons ago I was driving through Southend and saw a red plastic hand-bag lying in the road. Now, bear in mind it was a) tipping down with ice-cold rain b) blowing a gale c) dark.
I parked up and sprinted through the wintery conditions to retrieve the bag to return it to its owner. Ah. It was not a hand-bag but a KFC box! :'(

 

[MK Shrimper]

Doing the right thing doesn't always pay! Many moons ago I was driving through Southend and saw a red plastic hand-bag lying in the road. Now, bear in mind it was a) tipping down with ice-cold rain b) blowing a gale c) dark.
I parked up and sprinted through the wintery conditions to retrieve the bag to return it to its owner. Ah. It was not a hand-bag but a KFC box! :'(