Mom Who Stole Food For Children Wins Case

A court dismissed shoplifting charges against a woman who admitted stealing food to feed her children, basing its ruling on a turn-of-the-century law favoring the needy, newspapers reported.

Supermarkets where the theft occurred said they would appeal the Feb. 5 decision by a court in Poitiers, 200 miles southwest of Paris.

Annick Grippon, 36, admitted shoplifting meat and sausages on several occasions to feed her 3-year-old son and teenage daughter.

Her attorney, Philippe Brottier, found a nearly century-old “state of need” defense, used by courts to dismiss cases against hungry citizens who stole bread.

Grippon, a single mother whose former husband failed to pay child support, told the court Friday that all she could afford to buy her children was rice and pasta.