Fair or not?

Come on!!! It was a dead flower head.... and I was the one paying the bills.... sheesh... can't believe you actually wrote that with no hint of being facetious....

 

ARMANDII, but I AM a saint :rasp:

 

Last year someone dug out / pulled out a scabious black ace and some marigolds from my mother garden and someone pinch all the pansy's from her cousin's garden. They only live round the corner from me. Nobody nicked out from me from what I know of.

 

Excellent Shiney
Over the years I have scrounged, begged and been offered cuttings and divisions of plants....it is how I established my own garden. Almost without fail, people have been generous and friendly and I have copied this myself. I regard it as a compliment when I am asked about certain plants

It is when plants are simply pulled out of the ground or hacked about to extract material that annoys me. Wonder how they would like it if I put my hand in their pockets for loose change?

I have a front wall that once housed some treasures......I now grow less attractive things there and concentrate elsewhere in the garden.

It is a respect thing.......similarly with a neighbour who regularly allowed his dog to foul by my front gate. I saw him early one morning, waited, picked up the poo and deposited it on his doorstep. Hey presto! No more dog fouling :rasp: (very satisfying though)

 

No one has stole from our garden, but our nast neighbour gave us some flowers, Bindweed and Ground Elder then they helped kill some shurbs

 

That's nice Shiney

 

Fits the "Theft Act" if they took the whole plant. Darn liberty too!

Hmm, taking a bit from your plants, if it doesn't kill the plant, wouldn't fit the definition of "theft"; criminal damage, perhaps, but not "theft".

There are five points to prove before anything can be defined as "theft". If someone takes a piece of a plant, which does not kill it, it is not "theft" because they have not satisfied the criteria: "... to permanently deprive ... " as the plant still exists. The plant is still there (so, not "permanently deprived") it is simply a part of it which is missing. Hence, theft does not meet the criteria; criminal damage may do.

It isn't theft; in reality nothing was stolen. Why? Because, there was no intention to permanently deprive the owner of their property Probably wouldn't fit "criminal damage" either, as it didn't damage the plant?
I took a seed head, from a planter, at a country pub yesterday. I did not damage the plant (no case for criminal damage) and I did not steal the plant (no intention to permanently deprive); the opportunity to ask for a seed head wasn't available and would probably have made me look a few bob short of a shilling anyway. Do I feel bad/guilty/a thief/anti-social/vagabond? Nopey, it was a spur of the moment decision to bring a little bit from a very sad occasion back home with me to commemorate the day.

Not necessarily. It isn't so cut and dried. In our @CanadianLori example, she did not "permanently" deprive the owner of that particular plant/"property"; nor did she cause "criminal damage" to it. Neither did I in my scenario.

Of course, it is open debate and perception but I've yet to see the theft of a seed head come to court.
Ripping out plants though is another matter and to answer the question of the topic; no, it is not "fair".
As for what to do with the money? Pick a charity