On the 25th October last year Paul May, Jason Chan and William James were arrested for stealing food from dustbins behind an Iceland supermarket in Kentish Town and charged under The 1824 Vagrancy Act.

It has been reported that following a request from lawyers representing these 3 men that the charges be dropped you have decided that the case should go ahead due to "significant public interest"

We the undersigned feel that it is morally wrong to persue legal proceedings against human beings forced out of desparation to feed themselves to take food that had in this case already been discarded.

We believe in relation to this case significant public interest lies in -

a) People being able to eat

b) Supermarkets not wasting so much food.

Public interest will not be served by criminalising human beings who are struggling to make ends meet and feed themselves.

We also feel an archaic act from the 19th Century stating a person apprehended in this way and subsequently convicted shall be deemed a rogue and a vagabond does not accurately lend itself to some problems in modern society.

We therefore ask you respectfully to reconsider your decision and drop the case against the 3 aforementioned men.

 http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/28/three-charged-vagrancy-act-food-skip-iceland​

 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo4/5/83/section/4