Is it really a crime taking some food meant to be sent to landfills? Three charged with stealing food from skip behind Iceland supermarket Crown Prosecution Service claims there is 'significant public interest' in prosecuting men arrested for taking discarded food Paul May and fellow defendants will appear before magistrates charged with stealing food from a bin Paul May and his two fellow defendants will appear before magistrates charged under an obscure section of the 1824 Vagrancy Act. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian A man will stand trial next month after being caught taking some tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese from the dustbins behind a branch of Iceland. It is expected Paul May, a freelance web designer, will argue that he was taking the food because he needed it to eat and does not consider he has done anything illegal or dishonest in removing food destined for landfill from a skip. The case will require magistrates to scrutinise the phenomenon of "skippi...