The Police and lost, lost property!
Discussion
Rovinghawk said:
The problem is that you can't see the problem.
No. I am more than prepared to accept that there MAY be a problem. However looking at what has been posted so far I would suggest that it is far from certain. The problem is that there is insufficient evidence to know if there is a problem. Rather than accept that you don't know what has actually happened you choose to assume the worst as that suits your prejudice.Rovinghawk said:
The whole thing smells.
It does if you approach the situation from the off with the preconceived notion that something is rotten. With a more open minded view there is less odour.Cat
Cat said:
Rovinghawk said:
The problem is that you can't see the problem.
No. I am more than prepared to accept that there MAY be a problem. However looking at what has been posted so far I would suggest that it is far from certain. The problem is that there is insufficient evidence to know if there is a problem. About a year ago, my bicycle was stolen. It was a valuable and distinctive one.
I reported it to the police, who as per usual, sent round a tubby, blonde, 30-something year old woman with a notebook who just sat on my sofa and said thing like "ooh, isn't it awful eh? You wouldn't think things would get stolen in an area like this. I don't think you'll see your bike again I wouldn't have thought. Ooh isn't it terrible these days..."
Unbeknown to me, a couple of weeks later, during an unrelated incident, the Police raided a dodgy house somewhere for whatever reason, and found my bike along with stuff pinched from a number of other people.
They took it to the station and logged it as evidence or whatever else they do.
Few more weeks go past, and in a further stroke of good luck, a close friend who works as a civilian/office staff at the local station was walking down a corridor, and spots my distinctive bike just propped up against a wall in a corridor.
She then goes on a bit of a detective mission herself and discovers that the bike was identified as mine when it came into the station using some sort of stolen property description database (make, model, color etc) but then wheeled into a store room and I was never contacted or attempted to be contacted.
It has then, for whatever reason, made it's way into the corridor that day and was spotted by my friend.
My friend played innocent and just exclaimed "oh look, it's my friends bike!", notified the officer dealing with the case, and was given a kind of "oh, erm, yeah, we were probably just about to phone him or something"
I'm not saying there was anything untoward going on in the station, but the procedures that the police have for returning stolen or lost property does no longer fill me with any confidence at all.
I reported it to the police, who as per usual, sent round a tubby, blonde, 30-something year old woman with a notebook who just sat on my sofa and said thing like "ooh, isn't it awful eh? You wouldn't think things would get stolen in an area like this. I don't think you'll see your bike again I wouldn't have thought. Ooh isn't it terrible these days..."
Unbeknown to me, a couple of weeks later, during an unrelated incident, the Police raided a dodgy house somewhere for whatever reason, and found my bike along with stuff pinched from a number of other people.
They took it to the station and logged it as evidence or whatever else they do.
Few more weeks go past, and in a further stroke of good luck, a close friend who works as a civilian/office staff at the local station was walking down a corridor, and spots my distinctive bike just propped up against a wall in a corridor.
She then goes on a bit of a detective mission herself and discovers that the bike was identified as mine when it came into the station using some sort of stolen property description database (make, model, color etc) but then wheeled into a store room and I was never contacted or attempted to be contacted.
It has then, for whatever reason, made it's way into the corridor that day and was spotted by my friend.
My friend played innocent and just exclaimed "oh look, it's my friends bike!", notified the officer dealing with the case, and was given a kind of "oh, erm, yeah, we were probably just about to phone him or something"
I'm not saying there was anything untoward going on in the station, but the procedures that the police have for returning stolen or lost property does no longer fill me with any confidence at all.
Muncher said:
They still won't play ball. They won't make an interim payment, maybe time to start drafting the particulars of claim.
If you sue the police you often get paid out even if there is little likelihood of your claim succeeding as it would cost more for the police to brief a brief. This case might well fall into that category. However, if they do decide to run with it then I would wonder the likelihood of the costs of our brief being more than you would get from the bike. It is, after all, about who owns what. The police are often the holders of an item and they just allow the court to decide to whom they should give it. They don't tend to get costs awarded against them in such circs.As I've said before, it is unlikely that it was lost/found property. By your own admission the bike was hidden. This suggests to me it was either stolen or the owner placed it in that location with the intent of returning to retrieve it.
By all means have a go, but even asking a brief if it is worth proceeding is likely to cost you. It all comes down to whose day you will be making if you do proceed.
smokeey said:
What are you going to claim for?
It wasn't your bike to start with. You suffered no loss. Move on.
The point is that he may have had rights over the bike as the finder, and owner of the land where it had been left. As mentioned the court could decide ultimate ownership. As it stands, the government/police are currently profiting from the situation.It wasn't your bike to start with. You suffered no loss. Move on.
Derek Smith said:
Excuses & distractions.
According to various laws & case law linked in this thread, they would definitely appear to have been a bit naughty, both with respect to title & period of time prior to disposal.Move along, nothing to see here, even though you might catch an odour or two.
Derek Smith said:
By all means have a go, but even asking a brief if it is worth proceeding is likely to cost you. It all comes down to whose day you will be making if you do proceed.
There is no cost, I will do it myself, I am no stranger to a court room, although not usually this area.Gareth79 said:
The point is that he may have had rights over the bike as the finder, and owner of the land where it had been left. As mentioned the court could decide ultimate ownership. As it stands, the government/police are currently profiting from the situation.
Oh yeah, I forgot about his "rights" 
The poor darlin'.
Muncher said:
Derek Smith said:
By all means have a go, but even asking a brief if it is worth proceeding is likely to cost you. It all comes down to whose day you will be making if you do proceed.
There is no cost, I will do it myself, I am no stranger to a court room, although not usually this area.No wonder society is f
ked up when people will go to these lengths to get something they don't deserve.Ah, but look on the positive side.
With all this publicity when the original owner of the bike starts trying to work out who took it from where he had carefully hidden it to stop it being stolen he will know who took it & will be able to pursue Muncher - who he will probably accuse of trying to craftily get his bike by pretending it was found property - for the full cost of a replacement plus any incidental expenses
Should be worth a couple of months of rambling posts.
With all this publicity when the original owner of the bike starts trying to work out who took it from where he had carefully hidden it to stop it being stolen he will know who took it & will be able to pursue Muncher - who he will probably accuse of trying to craftily get his bike by pretending it was found property - for the full cost of a replacement plus any incidental expenses
Should be worth a couple of months of rambling posts.
I can't understand why, if the bike had been nicked, the actual owner, the bloke that actually paid for the bike hadn't mentioned its theft to Plod. Unless it had been purchased from proceeds of crime.
Maybe a young hoodied chav dealing a bit and moving up from a BMX?
Who knows?
Oh, and OP, is your first name Rug?
Maybe a young hoodied chav dealing a bit and moving up from a BMX?
Who knows?
Oh, and OP, is your first name Rug?
Muncher said:
Just to conclude this, the police wouldn't budge, I issued proceedings, and the police's solicitors shortly afterwards made an offer to settle the claim in full plus the MCOL fee.
Great use of the public purse there; suing the police for compensation over a bicycle you never legally owned. Bravo! _rubinho_ said:
Muncher said:
Just to conclude this, the police wouldn't budge, I issued proceedings, and the police's solicitors shortly afterwards made an offer to settle the claim in full plus the MCOL fee.
Great use of the public purse there; suing the police for compensation over a bicycle you never legally owned. Bravo! Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff