[Natsu]

Even you are calling that fictitious entity a "thief" rather than an "alleged thief." But it's just a character in a story, not a real person, nor does it represent anyone.

It's normal to make that part of a story to see how the law would play out in various cases. The point of that has nothing to do with guilt or innocence, it's to point out that the outcome of the desired ruling is simply to reward people for spending stolen money. This is a perfectly normal thing that is often used when discussing laws. [1]

This is different from saying that about the actual people being accused. This context is important. Otherwise one is failing to separate reality and fantasy.

[1] Many examples can be found here: http://lawcomic.net/ It's written by an actual lawyer: http://burneylawfirm.com/Firm/