Do you have to hand in valuable items that you have found?

Question

Do you have to hand any valuable items you have found in to the police by law in the UK?

Do you have to hand any valuable items you have found in to the police by law in the UK?

Sorry, perhaps I should of pointed out that I have not actually found anything its just a question that was asked one night while we were out.

Answer 1

yes but if they are not claimed after 3 months you can claim them.

Answer 2

Short answer: No.
Explanation: The so called 'theft by finding' is actually part of the definition of theft, namely ( even if you initially come by property innocently such as being handed too much change ) 'to assume the rights of an owner in property' . For example it could still be theft if you took something like an umbrella on a wet day from a cloakroom, even if you later put it back after you had used it, or used a bus pass and then returned the pass after the value it represented had been used up of expired. Having said that, NO you do not have to hand property into the police, subject of course to not being able to posses prohibited articles such as guns or drugs. With the greatest of respect to currently serving officers the public is NOT obliged to physically hand ordinary found items in. The finders obligation is to make reasonable steps to identify the owner, so clearly something with a means of identification imposes a higher duty on you than a £10 note lying in the gutter. Informing the police without handing in the property is an acceptable way of demonstrating you have tried to trace the owner. Taking steps to trace is not and does not necessarily require an actual handing in of the property to the police and there is no law requiring one to hand in the property. Assuming the finding takes place in a public place the finder has the strongest claim over everybody else except the true owner. You should remember that you can never acquire a stronger right than the true owner so that if you keep, or part with the found property to someone other than the true owner you could be called upon to reimburse them for the value of it in the future. If the property needed feeding, or storage you could possible claim those costs. There are special rules about notifying authorities found property on the beach from a shipwreck.
Edit: for the legally minded, the starting point is the Theft Act 1968 . to be guilty of theft there has to be an ingredient of dishonesty. Dishonesty is normally an issue for the jury to decide based on the every day standards of the ordinary person except in situations found in section 2 which defines actions which will be deemed not to be the dishonest appropriation of property , namely - " ( except where the property came to him as a trustee or personal representative ) if he appropriates property in the belief that the person to whom the property belongs can not be discovered by taking reasonable steps". As soon as a person raises this defence they must be found not guilty unless the prosecution can disprove the defendants claim beyond reasonable doubt. The emphasis also upon the finders honest belief, not yours, not mine, but the finders beliefs, even if loads of other people thought the owner could be traced it is what the finder honestly believes that counts.

Answer 3

In the UK, there is an offence of theft by finding, therefore, the police should be notified of any valuable find.
The items can be handed to the police or, with a few acceptions, they can be retained by you until claimed, the exceptions include legal documents, passports,drivers licences and firearms, these must be handed in.
If you do decide to retain them, the police should still be informed.
One defence from theft by finding is that you made a reasonable attempt to find the owner, the law however, does not define 'reasonable'.

Answer 4

No. You are only committing theft if you could reasonably trace the owner. You might decide to put an advertisement in the local paper for example as long as you can say you have done something that was reasonable in the circumstances. The reason that many people report found property to the police is to cover this point. The owner might have reported the loss to them. It is safer to let the police know, but no prosecution could succeed if you found a pound coin for example, and it looked the same as any other pound coin.

Answer 5

If you find something, valuable or not, (after all, it has value to the loser) then you should hand it in if you are working by the letter of the law.

If you don't then you should take all reasonable steps to find the owner. This could be as simple as putting an advert in your local shop saying you have found the item offering for the owner to come forwards.

If you don’t do this and the owner later finds out you have their property and reports it, its technically theft by finding.

If you do take it to the Police, they will keep it for safe keeping and dispose of it after a set period of time (28 days where I work) if the owner doesn't come forward. If when you take it to the Police you say you want to claim it if the owner doesn't come forwards then its yours after the set time period expires.

Answer 6

Not to hand found valuable goods to the police at the earliest reasonable opportunity can be considered dishonest appropriation or theft by finding, which is an offence.

Answer 7

God commanded Israelites to hand in valuable items thay they found. It is in the book of Leviticus in the Bible. I do not know the law in UK, but it is morally right so to do; moreso as God commanded it so in the Bible. If everyone imbibe the culture, the entire society will be better for it.

Answer 8

Theft by finding. You must hand it in.

The rule "Finders keepers" has no basis in law

Answer 9

Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers...........unless they have a contact name and details on them!!

Answer 10

Yes - because to keep what is not yours is theft.