Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Director charged with taking electricity

|
|
 
  
Published: Aug. 19, 2009 at 7:01 PM

LONDON, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- London taxpayers have to pay more than $8,200 for the case of a film maker accused of stealing .003 pence in electricity, a magistrates court said.

Mark Guard, 44, appeared at two separate hearings in North London before the charge was dropped and the cost added up to $8,200, The Daily Mail reported Wednesday.

Guard was making a documentary about crime and the homeless. He filmed squatters entering an empty building through an open window on Aug. 1. A movement sensor in the building was triggered. When the squatters fled, Guard, a former electrician, decided to remain and turn off the alarm because the noise would disturb neighboring families.

To see the alarm switch, Guard had to turn on the electricity in the building for a few seconds.

When police arrived he told them what he had done and was arrested for stealing the electricity.

He offered to pay for the electricity, but the electric company wouldn't bother collecting such a tiny sum, the report said.

Recommended Stories
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Cheerleaders of 2012 Tibetan pilgrims celebrate New Years Oscar nominations 2012
2011: The year in space The Most Desirable Women of 2012 The best kisses
Additional Odd News Stories
Your Daily Horoscope
The almanac
1 of 27
Vanessa Hudgens attends the "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" premiere in Los Angeles
View Caption
fark
Buying generic is now just as expensive as buying name brands
Man died while playing video games at internet cafe, but the blank stare and smell of soiled clothing...
Dejected bank robber wearing shorts on his head, not covering his face, leaves without money when...
Photoshop this hall of hams
1-800-GET-THIN: "They cut her liver three places during the surgery and put her in a wheelchair...
This week's Mugshot Roundup features assaults, DUI's, bench warrants and wait........... they arrested...