By Sarah Begley
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.
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]
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Introducing the 2024 TIME100 Next
- The Reinvention of J.D. Vance
- How to Survive Election Season Without Losing Your Mind
- Welcome to the Golden Age of Scams
- Did the Pandemic Break Our Brains?
- The Many Lives of Jack Antonoff
- 33 True Crime Documentaries That Shaped the Genre
- Why Gut Health Issues Are More Common in Women
Contact us at letters@time.com