While technically it is theft the fact that it is in the rubbish bins should really make it the property of the local authority.

The fact our money is being used to prosecute these people while the people who fixed LIBOR aren't in gaol yet is something I find quite sickening.

The fact that we now live in a country where people have to steal from supermarket bins is enough.

We have learned to turn out lots of goods and services, but we haven’t learned as well how to have everybody share in the bounty. The obligation of a society as prosperous as ours is to figure out how nobody gets left too far behind.

It is expected Paul May, a freelance web designer, will argue that he was taking the food because he needed it to eat and does not consider he has done anything illegal or dishonest in removing food destined for landfill from a skip.

£33 of small value items like fruit/veg and baked goods is a lot.

Given it was in the bin, it wasn't worth anywhere near that. It was in the bin presumably because it was past it's 'sell by' date, so they couldn't legally sell it. So it's value was effectively zero.

Given it was in the bin, it wasn't worth anywhere near that.

It was in the bin presumably because it was past it's 'sell by' date, so they couldn't legally sell it. So it's value was effectively zero.

Do shops still use 'sell by' any more? I thought best before was commonly used now as you can sell it after still/give it to food donation schemes. That said fruit/veg rarely has sell by on now when I've bought it unless it's prepackaged, even then they don't always have it

The chief executive of Iceland had contacted the CPS earlier on Wednesday to request that the case be dropped, stating that the company did not seek their prosecution.

Malcolm Walker said his initial reaction to news of the prosecution in the Guardian had been "one of total bemusement". "Our store had not called the police, let alone asked for those concerned to be prosecuted. Waste food in our bins that cannot be sold is clearly of minimal value to us," he writes, in a piece for the Guardian. "We acted as soon as we could to ask the police and CPS to drop the case."

There should be an investigation into why they believed that a prosecution under an 190 year old law, with no complaint from the alleged 'victim', was in the public interest. They need to publish the initial rationale for the prosecution.