MORE than a quarter of Britons believe some crimes such as fare-dodging and stealing stationery from work are "morally acceptable", a survey found yesterday.
The poll of 1,000 adults for private security company G4S found 38 per cent of those questioned had committed a crime in the past five years.
Offered a list of crimes, 26 per cent of those interviewed said at least one was acceptable.
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cluded 20 per cent who backed stealing stationery from work, 6 per cent who said they did not believe it was wrong to fare-dodge and 6 per cent who said they would jump a fence to avoid paying for a live event.
Younger people were more likely to support such behaviour. For example, 14 per cent of those aged 16-24 said it was ethically acceptable to fare-dodge – more than double the proportion of any other age group.
Douglas Greenwell, of G4S, said yesterday: "So many people see large organisations as a morally acceptable target nowadays that they don't appear to have any feelings of guilt about committing crimes against those businesses.
"This is why firms, from retailers to train operating companies, have to protect their revenue by taking the issue of security seriously."
The online poll found that 31 per cent of respondents felt a sense of guilt would not prevent them from committing a crime.
The full article contains 237 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
