| Begging was a recordable offence under the vagrancy act of 1824.This has been mostly repealed although a few vagrants have been prosecuted for persistant offences on central London streets.Although there is provision in the act for prosection of people behaving in a distressed or pleading manner, this again relates to vagrancy.If this woman had promised to repay, but had no intention of doing so, then an offence is committed, but to ask for money without threats or promisses of repayment on the whole does not constitute an offence |