Stealing Food If You’re Hungry Is Not A Crime Says Judge

Italy’s highest court of appeal has overturned the conviction for shoplifting of a homeless man because “stealing small amounts of food to stave of hunger is not a crime” the judge ruled.

Roman Ostriakov, a Ukrainian national, was living rough on the streets in the northern Italian city of Genoa in 2011 when he was caught trying to steal some cheese and sausage worth 4 euros (about £3) from a supermarket. When found guilty of theft he was sentenced to six months in jail and was fined with 100-euro.

The state prosecutor appealed the sentence on a technicality, arguing that he should not have been found ‘guilty of theft’, but rather ‘attempted theft’, because he had been caught before he had left the supermarket premises.

But Italy’s Supreme Court invalidated the verdict.

Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation, which reviews only the application of the law and not the facts of the case, made a final and definitive ruling overturning the conviction entirely.

“The condition of the accused and the circumstances in which he obtained the merchandise show that he had taken the little amount of food he needed to overcome his immediate and essential requirement for nourishment,” it said in a written ruling and was, therefore not a crime.