The police don't know what theft is

After my mum was arrested on Friday night, I was told by the two police officers attending that we weren't allowed to take her car, filled with her clothes, photographs and pictures as "an allegation of theft has been made" and they need to investigate first.

I went into law mode firstly asking who had made the allegation and whether it was credible. The police informed me that my father's friends, the ones who reported us as breaking into my mum's house (with her), had said the car was filled with stolen goods.

I questioned whether it was a credible allegation, given my mum was just here, it's her house, her car and filled with women's clothing and photos of her with her sisters and children. 

The police told me that they had a duty to investigate all allegations.

I then alleged that the police officer had stolen my phone, that my dad had stolen all my belongings and that his employees had stolen my money. I told him to investigate my allegations too. He smirked but agreed that those were equally ridiculous allegations to make, but he still wouldn't let us take the car.

Boiling things down to basics, I rattled off the legal definition of theft for him:

"The appropriation of property belonging to another with the intentionally depriving them of a right over that property."

I explained that this clearly wasn't "property belonging to another", it's my mum's clothing, from her house, in her car.

I also explained that everything she takes will need to be listed on a Form E as part of their divorce, where it will be totalled up and split in half - thus not "permanently depriving" my dad of anything.

I asked if the police officers agreed, or if they wanted my dad to come back, block my mum's car on his drive way and have it all kick off again tomorrow.

The police officer I was speaking to finally agreed to let us take the car, mumbling about how he couldn't technically stop us or stay there all night.

THE POLICE DONT UNDERSTAND THE LAW.

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