Three charged over bin food theft - Iceland: 'we didn’t call cops'

Frozen food firm Iceland has said its staff did not call police over three men alleged to have stolen waste food from bins in the UK.

Paul May, 35, along with Jason Chan and William James, who all live in a squat in north London, are facing prosecution over claims they took tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese and Mr Kipling cakes from bins behind a branch in Kentish Town.

The retailer said that the store is next to a police station and that officers had attended “on their own initiative”.

It has asked the Crown Prosecution Service to explain why charges are being brought.

Details of the case were revealed in the Guardian newspaper, which reported that the stolen items were worth £33, and that the trio had been charged under the 1824 Vagrancy Act.

A statement on the Iceland website said: “The store in question is next door to a police station. Iceland staff did not call the police, who attended on their own initiative. Nor did we instigate the resulting prosecution, of which we had no knowledge until the media reports of it appeared yesterday evening.

“We are currently trying to find out from the Crown Prosecution Service why they believe that it is in the public interest to pursue a case against these three individuals, and will comment further when we are more fully informed.”