Rubbish case 'a waste' says judge

The couple's case was thrown out before going to trial

A judge has criticised the decision to prosecute a couple who were charged with theft after removing items from a pile of rubbish.

Richard Small and his wife Lynne were arrested after taking a pair of boots, a hosepipe, a shoelace and a plant pot from the garden of an unoccupied house.

A judge at Hull Crown Court said the case was a "waste of public resources", and has awarded them £10 compensation.

The couple, of 16th Avenue, Hull, had denied a charge of theft by finding.

Mr and Mrs Small, both 38, said they thought they were doing the council a favour by cleaning up the items which they placed in a wheelie bin and took to their home.

They were arrested after a member of the public called the police, but the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence in the case, which did not proceed to trial.

I take into account the fact that you were arrested and it should not have got as far as it did Recorder Paul Isaacs

Recorder Paul Isaacs, sitting at Hull Crown Court, formally entered not guilty verdicts on the theft charges, but gave the couple six month conditional discharges for refusing to take a drugs test at the police station.

He said: "It does seem to me that bringing this matter to the crown court is something of a waste of public resources.

"Whatever the rights and wrongs it seems to me the picking up of these items in the belief they would have been abandoned would have been accepted by a sensible jury.

'Very distressing'

"I take into account the fact that you were arrested and it should not have got as far as it did."

Mrs Small said: "I have been through five months of hell waiting to prove my innocence. I have lost my faith in the judicial process.

"It's been very distressing."

A Humberside Police spokesman said: "We received a call from a member of the public saying they believed two people were stealing from the house.

"We followed procedure and now the police and the Crown Prosecution Service has decided not to continue the case."