LEGAL ADVISE

No idea where to post this! So i hope people who could help, will find it!

Basically, this is a question about what is going on.

For the purpose of the explanation, this persons name is 'John'.

John worked for a retail company for six years. One day he tried stealing some money. He got away with the money but when he went to work the next day, he got found out by his manager. He admitted to the manager what he done, and handed in his notice with immediate effect and left. He never heard from the company for six weeks.

John was expecting to be paid a couple of days after he left, but he didnt. He did not challenge this however, until he recieved a letter six weeks later saying he was overpaid. He phoned the retail company to find out what is going on as he never recieved any pay, and the company are saying that they have him down as being 'dismissed for theft' and have taken the money that he stole from his wages.

Now this could be totally unconnected, but John has had the police trying to get hold of him this week. Why are they trying to get hold of him?

Is it relatedd to the retail job or is it unrelated do you think?

Some reasons why it could not be related:

1. Surely the business would have pressed charges earlier than six weeks?

2. Why would the business take back the money, and then press charges? Surely they would put John down as a leaver, and press charges, claiming back the money stolen.

Very confusing but basically im wondering if John could now be prosecuted, and if he could, surely the business have gone the wrong way about it? Taking the money back first before pressing charges, dont they contradict each other? Because technically, John has never been proven for stealing this money therefore the business have done wrong taking the money out of his earnt wages plus they put him down as dismissed which is completely untrue as he resigned and left immediately and has not heard from the business since.

If it is the police, can he be arrested, taken to court, or imprisoned?

Any answers, opinions or advice would be grately appreciated.

I might be wrong but if you steal, even if you give back the stolen goods you can be prosecuted for theft.

He was caught stealing from his employer and even admitted this. He has to pay the money back and even in doing so, he can face going to court for this and going to jail/prison, depending on amount he took and many other factors.

When one commits a crime and confesses to it, its really the fault of the innocent party if one gets into trouble for it.

He can be prosecuted for theft and/or sued for the damages, but they can't withhold his paycheck.

And advice is spelled with a 'c'.

Sorry to be pedantic.

To supergirl

He wasnt sacked, he resigned and left. therefore he should be put down as resigning whether they were prosecuting or not.

to jonnythan

Your right, thats exactly what i thought. whether they decide to produce or not, they are not allowed to withhold his paycheck. and the fact that they did tells me that they have taken back money stolen(which the retail company told him) so surely they are not going to prosecute

advise advice.... tomato tomatoe. Whats a 'c' between friends?

He committed a crime. He took something that was not his to take and confessed to this to the manager. No matter if he was fired, resigned etc he committed a crime. Even if he paid back the money on his own, if he walked in with cheque for full amount he took from them, they have every right to press charges as he committed a crime.

We can't have people committing crimes thinking if they pay back all the money all is well. He broke the law and when people break the law, they can go to jail.

Example, let me use a famous person. Lindsay Lohan is accused of stealing necklace. She returned the necklace but she is facing jail time because the necklace was not her necklace to take.

But,...surely she has better looking legs....

She is raising quite a scene on her courtroom attire.

Simply prosecuting someone doesn't actually get you your money back. You'd probably have to sue afterwards to legally force him to return the money.

Depending on the sum stolen, I'd probably press charges.

Hmmm,... so if 'John' wants to evoke any sympathetic emotions at all, it will be necessary for him to look better than Lohan, or they'll throw the book at him, right?

John needs to dress very nice, be polite and respectful and say he took the money, it was a mistake and the money has been paid back and show proof of that. If a small sum and not previous criminal history, he will probably get probation and even record cleaned after he served that.

If he goes in with bad attitude, denies things but its proven he did it, his sentence will be higher, for the most part this is usually what happens.

But again depends on how much he took and if he has criminal history.

its best to find out what the police want rather than avoid them.