Will he be prosecuted?

Question

Hi

My brother works in an electrical shop on the high street. However he admitted to me the other day that he needed some rechargable batteries and didnt want to pay for them so stole them from his shop. Security is really tight and they check all their pockets and bags before they go. My brother isnt the brightest so decided he would swallow them and then vomit them up when he got home.

However when he got home the batteries were too big and he couldnt bring them up, nor could he pass them. They are stuck.

When he went to work the next day his boss called him in as they have him on CCTV swallowing these rechargable batteries and want to involve the police.

The CCTV doesnt show it very clearly and he thinks he could get that evidence dismissed in court as ambiguous. However if the Police can prove that he has these batteries in his stomach will they be able to charge him?

Answer 1

YES! they will keep charging him until the power has run down.

Answer 2

It is not the Police who charge offenders it is the CPS. The Police will investigate, gather evidence, take witness statement, interview the suspected Offender etc, etc and then they will send a Preliminary File to the CPS for consideration whom on the balance of the evidence presented will decide if the Offender is to be charged and Prosecuted. In the meantime while the file is prepared and sent to the CPS for consideration your brother will probably be bailed to reappear at the Police Station at a later date.

Your brother's case depends on whether his employers decide to involve the Police. If the Police are called, the CCTV will only be used as part of the evidence against him. If your brother has the batteries removed by a doctor the Police will ask for a statement from the consulting doctor and/or surgeon. Also a Medical Report will be requested as further evidence that the batteries were ingested. Your brother's employer will be asked to check his stock and make a statement stating that the batteries in question have not been sold and that your brother is an employee at his store and has access to the batteries. And, finally your brother will be interviewed under caution about the offence, what he says can be used against him in Court as evidence.

So there you have it. Boy swallows batteries = CCTV footage of theft + statement from boss saying said batteries are missing + statement from doctor saying batteries are in boy + Medical Report citing removal of batteries by surgery from said boy + (interview tapes with Offender) = Guilty as sin. The Magistrates will not have a hard time believing that your brother is a thieving scrote. In addition, your brother will be a laughing stock and the subject of many jokes among the Police, Court and CPS. Criminal of the century, no. Stupid criminal of century, quite possibly, yes.

Answer 3

How much are the batteries worth? It seems like a lot of trouble to go through to save $20. I would also hope your brother sees a doctor, otherwise he could have battery acid in his stomach, which could be fatal (I'm not a doctor, but that would scare the crap out of me to have them in there!).

I would have him see a doctor about it right away (as in get up from your PC right now, and get his keester to the hospital emergency room!), then worry about this misdemeanor charge. At most, it will cost him his job, and get him a slap on the wrist. It's not like he'll have an immense fine or do time for something worth less than $20. As a matter in fact, the only way he could get hurt would be if they had a post office, or postal substation (I mean federal post office, not that they just sell stamps) in the store. If that were the case, he could take a five cent gumball, and it's actually a federal offense.

Trust me, doctor first, legal troubles second.

Answer 4

The Police may insit on an X ray to see if there is evidence of him swallowing those batteries, but the important thing is for your brother to get these batteries out of his stomach before they start leaking acid. The acid that is in everyones stomach can cause it to react against the battery acid, and it could be fatal.

Answer 5

He certainly should not go to hospital in case the electric field from his charged batteries cause problems with sensitive hospital medical equipment, what size were they, D, AA, AAA, C, 1.5v, 12v, 24v, 48v, 72v,if the latter is the case then a fork lift truck or crane may be needed to extract the batteries in which case an open air theatre ward like a M.A.S.H. unit could be set up in his local high street. I doubt if the police would charge him because the only electrical knowledge they have is how to switch a torch on, as for experience in extracting, they certainly know how to do that on a daily or minute by minute basis.

Answer 6

What a sad little man he must be. Potentially risking illness or worse for the sake of a couple of batteries.
I personally wouldn't want to waste too much time dealing with him but he should be dealt with formally.
I hope he doesn't need medical treatment because then he will use tax money in the NHS as well as the Police service.

Answer 7

the company may sack him rather than get the police involved because its stupid and a waste of time and if your brother offeres to pay for the batteries then end of sports, but theft from employee its a very serious offence ! if the police were to get involved and your brother admitts the offence then great if he does'nt and the cps who now make all the charging decisions will have to look at the cctv evidence and if it's not clear enough to see him swollowing the battries then he may get away with it!

Answer 8

It will be difficult to prove he has them in his stomach however I suggest he goes to hospital immediately as the nickel and cadmium in rechargeable batteries is highly toxic and will cause some very nasty side effects. Hes not only stupid for stealing them in the first place, hes also stupid for swallowing batteries. The packaging is marked as 'Toxic' for a reason

Answer 9

I'm glad you realize he isn't the brightest. Yes, he could be prosecuted, the video is enough probable cause for the batteries to be taken as evidence when he has them removed. Which he better do, asap. Given the relative idiocy of his act, as long as he doesn't have much of a record, I would imagine his penalty would be pretty light.

Answer 10

what an odd question to ask they have to have the evidence and i am sure the batteries are already charged and he will probably become very ill do to the acid in the batteries what a fool he better go to the DR

Answer 11

I had a friend who went to court. He got find £340 and was given 21 days to pay......
He politely informed the judge that he would require 3 weeks to accumulate the money.
I think hm and your bro were in dumb and dumber