criminal-law england-and-wales theft blackmail
Case law regarding the theft of lost property
<p>Does anyone know of any case law about someone being found guilty of theft after finding lost property and demanding money to return it?</p>
<p>I've heard about it before but can't find it anywhere.</p>

<p>Recent cases in Australia</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/finders-keepers-what-should-you-do-if-you-find-a-large-amount-of-money/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The McDonald's bag of cash</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/theft-by-finding-it-s-in-the-bag" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Salvation Army Suitcase</a></li>
</ul>

<p><a href="https://www.corneyandlind.com.au/resource-centre/criminal-law/stealing-by-finding_criminal-law/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This</a> is a nice summary for Queensland law which is basically a codification of the historical common law position. The crime is 'stealing' and <a href="http://www6.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/qld/consol_act/cc189994/s391.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">s390</a> of the Criminal Code 1899 says:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(1) A person who fraudulently takes anything capable of being stolen, or fraudulently converts to the person’s own use or to the use of any other person anything capable of being stolen, is said to steal that thing.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Note that it says nothing about removing it from the owner's possession - whether the thing is in someone's possession or not is irrelevant. To avoid acting fraudulently, a person who finds something must make reasonable efforts (commensurate with the value of the property among other things) to locate the true owner and reunite them with their property</p>
