The Supreme Court in Italy on Monday overturned the
conviction of a homeless man from Ukraine, who was caught stealing food from a
store in Genoa in 2013 and ruled that "stealing small amounts of food
out of necessity is not a crime".
According to The Telegraph report, the unusual judgment was
made in the case of a homeless man, Roman Ostriakov, who was caught trying to
steal two pieces of cheese and a pack of frankfurter sausages worth four euros
(£3.15) from a supermarket in Genoa, in Italy's northwest, in 2011.
The Rome-based Cassation (appellate) Court on Monday ruled
that man was driven by necessity to take a small quantity of food, Fox News reported.
The court said that the circumstances in which the
merchandise theft took place prove that he took possession of that small amount
of food in the face of the immediate and essential need for nourishment,
"acting therefore in a state of need", reported The New York Times.
Therefore, the theft “does not constitute a crime,” the
appellate court wrote in its decision.
According to a CNN International report, the 36-year-old
Ukrainian national, had the goods hidden under his jacket as he paid for bread
sticks. He was reported to shopkeepers by another customer, and was later
arrested by police.
In 2013, Ostriakov was convicted of theft and sentenced to six
months jail and a €100 fine ($115). The ruling was appealed against, but upheld
in 2015.
Ostriakov, was sentenced to six months in jail and a fine of
€100 ($115) in 2015.
The value of the food he attempted to steal was less than
$5, reported Time Magazine.
The ruling found its way in an op-ed in La Stampa, an Italian newspaper, which said
that for the judges, the “right to survival prevails over property”.
An opinion piece in Corriere Della Sera, reported BBC, said
statistics suggest 615 people are added to the ranks of the poor in Italy every
day, and it was "unthinkable that the law should not take note of
reality".
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