Where's the logic?

But in this modern age, their efforts appear to be too often hampered due to suffocating rules about health and safety or, sometimes, even the long arm of the law.

So it proved for pensioner Eric Beckett, who believed he was simply doing a good deed when he saw a pair of crutches in excellent condition at a tip in Rotherham. His "crime" was to decide to return them to the Red Cross which had issued them.

Ludicrously, the following day, he was visited by police officers who warned him he would be reported for theft unless he took them back.

Surely, the officers could have employed some simple common sense and realised Mr Beckett was a public-spirited individual trying to help others? What's more, it raises serious questions about their priorities – which might be better focused on tracking down real criminals.