Are you receiving any sort of professional help for this compulsion?
I'm not a lawyer, but a case of one word against another is unlikely to get far. I doubt fingerprints would be useful because money changes hands so often, and people's bags get moved in work. However, you could look in to seeing a lawyer if you are worried. A lot of firms will give a thirty minute consultation free to discuss your case. But I wouldn't do that until any charges are pressed.
You won't go to prison if you were found guilty you'd have to pay her the money and maybe court costs of a few hundred. They might also suggest you get therapy for your compulsion.
Since your innocent I hope you get let off though.
did you own up about touching her stuff? its going to look bad if you havent and your finger prints come back on if you havent already mentioned that fact. But also fingerprints can take up to three months to come back in a non serious case.
However im wondering why you where accused as im assuming more than you and her work together so why you?
"Its not how long a star shines, what is remembered is the brightness of the light"
Tbh what you have just said is alot different to just you are being accused. The fact is you need to own up about your prints being there, because 1 - they will find them anyway, 2 - The police will know they are there when they search for them, and at least you will have been honest owning up to where they are on her bag, rather than them coming back in some time asking why they are there.
Do you know if it was taken from her purse and if the purse was left? Because really they would be looking for prints there/ or where the money was taken from.
"Its not how long a star shines, what is remembered is the brightness of the light"
Similar thing happened to me and I was innocent but because it was my first "crime" and it was minor they used my deferral meaning I didn't get any fines or anything but I've lost my only "chance" so if anything ever happens again I'll get charged.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break
that its heart may stand in the sun,
so must you know pain.
There are only two ways in which one can live their life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is.
Honestly, for a theft as low as $55, I doubt the police would even bother to take prints. I'm sure the only reason your work would say that they would prosecute you is because theft is obviously illegal, and they want to make sure you have a safe workplace. At worst, you could be fired from your job, but I doubt you would be in any major trouble with the cops.
Have they accused you personally? Or was it just that the money was missing, and everyone is under suspicion?
I agree with Monket- people assume the police take fingerprints all of the time (mainly due to programmes like CSI) but they don't. Also, taking fingerprints off of certain materials is very tricky and so they might not bother for that reason.
It's also worth keeping in mind that even if the police DO arrest you, the Crown Prosecution Service have to review the case to decide whether it's worth taking you to court. I doubt they will for an alleged theft of £55 because court cases cost £1000s.
Go to your local Citizens Advice Bureau, it's free to talk to them and they can offer advice on your situation and help you with legal aid if things get that far.
Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back, everything is different…
you once called your brain a hard drive, well say hello to the virus.
i doubt the police would go to the trouble of taking prints, as said above.
even if they were told to by the woman, if they werent going to do it in the first place, they will most likely not do it when told.
it would cost far to much time and money for them.
I'm fine! Totally fine. I don't know why it's coming out all loud and squeaky, 'cause really, I'm fine!
no they do take prints, but it takes longer to process as its not urgent, i know someone that had a little more money than that stolen and that had forensics and everyone getting questioned.
It depends on the case and weather or not they can get fingerprints.
"Its not how long a star shines, what is remembered is the brightness of the light"
why do employees of your company not have the option to store their valuables somewhere safe where no one can go through it? i thought it was law that employees have somewhere safe to put their belongings?
^ Where I work, all our stuff is stored together. I mean the customers can't get to it but any member of staff could access anyone's stuff if they wanted to, it is bad though. Luckily, none of us have ever had anything like that happen
We just have an area where we can hang our coats and bags and stuff, saying that though, most of us keep our purses and phones with us when we're working
As far as this situation goes though, I think at worst you'd have to pay the money back and get a caution and possibly fired if they did decide it was you
I highly doubt you'd get anything more than that
