This pursuit of the hungry shows the monstrous side of modern Britain

‘In the BBC’s recent Poldark drama, Jim Carter, an unemployed tin miner, is caught poaching the local gentry’s rabbit to feed his hungry family. Despite pleas for clemency Jim is made an example of by the judge, sentenced to two years, and subsequently dies in jail, paying the ultimate penalty for a minor food theft.

Perhaps someone at the Hetton Road Tesco Express in Sunderland felt a similar urge to make an example when, after spotting people on CCTV sifting through out-of-date groceries at the back of the store in January, they picked up the phone to the police. Or maybe they were simply following company protocol. Either way, the resulting court case has turned out to be a spectacular own goal for Tesco.’

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