Three men are due to stand trial next month after they were allegedly caught stealing food from dustbins behind an Iceland store.
The Crown Prosecution Service claimed there was a “significant public interest” in prosecuting Paul May, Jason Chan and William James for taking the discarded food, The Guardian reported.
Mr May, 35, a freelance web designer, is expected to argue that he has not done anything illegal by claiming mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese and Mr Kipling cakes which had been thrown away and would have ended up as landfill.
He will tell the hearing on February 3 the food had been disposed of and he needed it to feed himself.
The trio were arrested in October when a passer-by alerted police after seeing the men scaling a wall at the back of the supermarket in Kentish Town, north London.
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28 Jan 2014Officers intercepted the three men, who all live in a squat in north London, as they left with a bag and trolley containing £33-worth of food.
The case will highlight the issues around “skipping”, which involves people taking discarded supermarket food which is destined for landfill, and once again focus attention on the large amount of waste produced by UK stores.
It may also raise awareness of the growing number of people struggling to feed themselves as living costs increase.
The three men were initially arrested for burglary but have been charged under a little known section of the 1824 Vagrancy Act after being caught in “an enclosed area, namely Iceland, for an unlawful purpose, namely stealing food”.
They were held in a cell for 19 hours before being released, May told The Guardian, and the items were returned to the Iceland store.
Lawyers for the three men asked the Crown Prosecution Service to consider dropping the case, but were told the case would go ahead, because “we feel there is significant public interest in prosecuting these three individuals.”
Frozen food firm Iceland has said its staff had not called police about the three men allegedly stealing from its bins.
The retailer said the store is next to a police station and that officers had attended "on their own initiative".
It has asked the Crown Prosecution Service to explain why charges are being brought.
A statement on the Iceland website said: "The store in question is next door to a police station.
“Iceland staff did not call the police, who attended on their own initiative. Nor did we instigate the resulting prosecution, of which we had no knowledge until the media reports of it appeared yesterday evening.
"We are currently trying to find out from the Crown Prosecution Service why they believe that it is in the public interest to pursue a case against these three individuals, and will comment further when we are more fully informed."
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