Man Jailed For Nearly 2 Years For Stealing A Sandwich

A hungry man has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison for stealing a
sandwich from a bakery.

The man, who has not been named, has been sentenced to one year and nine
months in prison by a judge in the city of Barcelona in the Spanish region
of Catalonia.

Prosecutors had wanted the man jailed for three and a half years.

The man claimed during the trial that he had been hungry and went to the
bakery in the hope a customer would buy him something to eat.

But nobody had offered him food, and he said he was overcome with hunger as
he leaned over the counter of the bakery to steal the sandwich in what his
lawyer, Monica Caellas, described as a case of “hurto famelico” (‘starving
theft’).

However, prosecutors claimed the man had been holding a small metal object
they could not identify, reportedly a drink can, when he stole the sandwich.

And they allege he compounded the crime by returning two hours later and
drunkenly insulting the bakers he had stolen from.

He was charged with violent robbery and making threats.

The defence has appealed the sentencing with lawyer Caellas claiming there
had been no “property damage” and saying that her client had acted out of a
“state of need”.