--- description: An Italian court has ruled that a homeless man did not commit a crime when he attempted to steal cheese and sausage from a supermarket. title: Homeless Man Who Stole Food Didn't Commit a Crime, Italian Court Rules image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Homeless Man Who Stole Food Didn't Commit a Crime, Italian Court Rules by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 4, 2016 3:07 PM CUT by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 4, 2016 3:07 PM CUT An Italian court has ruled that a homeless man [did not commit a crime](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36190557 "undefined") when he attempted to steal cheese and sausage from a supermarket. Judges from the court of cassation, which reviews the interpretation of law rather than the facts of a case, found that the “right to survival prevails over property,” the BBC reports. Since the man had “an immediate and essential need for nourishment,” he was “acting … in a state of necessity.” The man, Roman Ostriakov, was sentenced to six months in jail and a fine of €100 ($115) last year. The value of the food he attempted to steal was less than $5. \[[BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36190557 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4317753/homeless-food-theft-italian-court/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4317753/homeless-food-theft-italian-court/"},"headline":"Homeless Man Who Stole Food Didn't Commit a Crime, Italian Court Rules","datePublished":"2016-05-04T15:07:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:15:52.842Z","description":"The court said he acted \"in a state of necessity\"","url":"https://time.com/4317753/homeless-food-theft-italian-court/","keywords":["Italy"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4317753/homeless-food-theft-italian-court/","name":"Homeless Man Who Stole Food Didn't Commit a Crime, Italian Court Rules"}}]}] ```