Man,77, who rescued crutches from tip quizzed over 'theft'

WHEN public-spirited pensioner Eric Beckett noticed a pair of metal crutches at his local tip he decided to take them to the British Red Cross so someone could put them to good use.

He was stunned when police officers turned up on his South Yorkshire doorstep the following day to quiz him on suspicion of theft.

Staff at the tip had reported the crutches "stolen" from a scrap metal skip, and the 77-year-old, from Maltby, near Rotherham, only escaped arrest after volunteering to take them straight back to the tip – rather than to charity.

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Mr Beckett, a retired fitter from Maltby Colliery, is a member of a host of community organisations in the town. He had visited his local waste recycling site at Ravenfield when he fell foul of the law.

He said: "I spotted these crutches in a skip in excellent condition. I thought there was nothing wrong with them.

"I spoke to the workmen there and they said they had been put in the metal skip for scrap. I said they were too good to throw away and said I was taking them.

"I thought they might have come from Rotherham Hospital but, on closer examination, found they were on loan from the Red Cross in Doncaster.

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"I phoned them up and said I would take them over on a Monday, but I had a visit from the police on the Sunday before I could go.

"I expected the officer to be sympathetic to what I was trying to do, but she said I must take them back immediately or I could be arrested and taken to the police station and charged with theft.

"When the police tell you to do something you do it, so I took them straight back, but it is just ridiculous."

Mr Beckett added: "I later spoke to the Red Cross and they said the crutches have a serial number on them so the person who loaned them can be traced. The crutches were in excellent condition. I couldn't understand why they were in the scrap metal at all."

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The pensioner said he had pointed out his find to a member of staff at the tip, but had been told: "If it's in there, it's scrap."

He claims he was told not to remove the crutches from the site, and was also warned his car was being filmed by security cameras, but still went ahead in defiance.

He said: "I took them back but I couldn't bring myself to put them in the scrap metal skip.

"All I was trying to do was to help someone else.

"I would do it again. It is disgusting to think items like this have not been returned to their rightful owners."

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Colin Fletcher from the Waste Recycling Group, which owns the tip, said once an item was left at the household waste recycling centre it had to be treated as waste.

Mr Fletcher said: "It would be potentially dangerous to allow people to take any item from the recycling centre as we would have no

understanding of its previous history.

"All waste management companies have to comply with strict

environmental legislation and if something is removed without

permission our procedures require us to notify the police."

Waste Recycling Group manages numerous tips nationwide on behalf of local authorities.

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A South Yorkshire Police spokesman confirmed the force had received a report of the theft of a pair of crutches.

"It became clear that he was merely being public-spirited and wanted to do a good deed."

The legal risks run by good samaritans

Eric Beckett isn't the first Good Samaritan to run into trouble with

the police after trying to be charitable.

A-level student Paul Leicester, from Southport, found a mobile phone

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while out celebrating his 18th birthday last year and decided to hand it in at the police station the following day.

But when he arrived at the police station he was arrested for "theft by finding" and detained for four hours. The complaint of theft was subsequently withdrawn and Mr Leicester was released without charge.

The teenager said: "I would not go to the police in future. I would arrange for it to be collected by the last caller. All I was doing was the honest thing. It was a shocking experience."