Stolen?

Late one recent afternoon, I was coming back from town, taking the route which runs up the Temple Road side of Court Recreation Ground. And just before I got to the rec, I came across the jacket right above, hanging off a lamp post from the hanger that it probably came with. As far as I could tell, untouched and unblemished. Neither wet nor dirty.

Given that M&S is about the only proper clothes shop left in town, I thought probably something which had been stolen from them and then discarded, perhaps because it turned out to be too small. I could have a bit of fun taking it back to customer services at M&S to see if they would take it back. Unless they had rules about clothes which had been out of their sight, I thought that they probably would take it back

However, closer inspection at home turned up a label from Peacocks, so maybe it had been stolen from their Sutton store, arriving at Epsom on the train. Turning to reference 1: 'Mens Grey Faux Wool Trucker Jacket', discounted online to £36 for Black Friday, and a reasonably substantial item - if rather small - despite being polyester. Left above.

I didn't think that T K Maxx would do Peacock's stuff, so it wouldn't be them, and I wasn't going to go to Sutton.

So off to Oxfam with it in the morning, where the young man behind the counter did not seem very bothered about where exactly it had come from and took it in.

And Peacocks have the consolation that it has probably gone to a good home and that someone has made a contribution to Oxfam.

All of which provided another test for Gemini, with the start of that interchange being snapped above. After supplementaries, the bottom line seems to be that it is a bit of a grey area, but it is unlikely that either Oxfam or I could or would be charged with anything. If it were a higher value item, return to the police station would be the safest bet - and we still have one of those (of sorts) in town.

His summary of the law seemed all very reasonable to me and it is a pity I do not have convenient access to a lawyer to check it.

Gemini continues to close our discussions by bringing up granite tors, the subject of another conversation, quite some time ago now.

References

Reference 1: https://www.peacocks.co.uk/.