http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...a--guilty.html

A man prosecuted for stealing a 25p banana has been cleared after a trial which cost the taxpayer £20,000.

James Gallagher, 23, was accused of stealing the fruit from the Del Villagio restaurant in Birmingham's Bullring shopping centre.

But a jury at Birmingham Crown Court jurors took less than half an hour to find him not guilty of burglary and a lesser charge of theft.

Speaking after the verdict was delivered, Mr Gallagher said: 'It's shocking, it's just a waste of taxpayers' money. I cannot understand how they've got away with it.
[...]

'It is not the cost of the item that determines whether we proceed with a prosecution, but whether there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest.
'In this case, we felt that there was sufficient evidence and it was in the public interest for the prosecution to proceed. Fuck yeah! I mean, it was a BANANA!! Worth 25p!!!