OPINION

Theft out of need may not be crime

News, Published on 05/05/2016

» Stealing food from a supermarket may not be a crime in Italy if you are homeless and hungry, the nation's highest appeals court has ruled.In a case that has drawn comparisons to Les Miserables, the Supreme Court of Cassation threw out the conviction of a homeless man from Ukraine, Roman Ostriakov, who was caught trying to take €4.07 (about 164 baht) worth of cheese and sausage from a store in Genoa without paying for it. A trial court sentenced him in February 2015 to six months in jail and a fine of €100.