What Action if Falsely Accused of Driving Offence.
Discussion
A few months ago I was falsely accused by someone that claimed was hit in front of my house while indicating to go into my drive. The person was upset that I asked her to close the door to her car which was opened into the middle of the road (a traffic offence) and proceeded to swipe my car with her hand while I manoeuvre into my drive. I challenged her about this and she gave a stupid excuse.
The following day six (6) police officers turned up at my door to arrest me for dangerous driving and driving without due care (held my licence for 22yrs without any points) and before I know it my insurance rang to say someone is making a claim for an accident that took place in front of my house.
The case was investigated by the insurance and they concluded it was fraudulent, the police also investigated and said there was no case to answer.
A few weeks later I got a letter from the traffic division and to be brief the case was to my surprise taken to court and thereby resulting into me incurring legal expenses not to talk of my emotional and mental distress as a result. Eventually I went to court and represented my self as the legal cost was astronomical for me. The case was subsequently dismissed by the magistrates and they commented about how strange the case was considering there was no injury or any medical assistance sought by the person.
Can I legally sue this person for the distressed caused as a result of this false and fraudulent allegations.
Your comments/advice will be highly appreciated.
The following day six (6) police officers turned up at my door to arrest me for dangerous driving and driving without due care (held my licence for 22yrs without any points) and before I know it my insurance rang to say someone is making a claim for an accident that took place in front of my house.
The case was investigated by the insurance and they concluded it was fraudulent, the police also investigated and said there was no case to answer.
A few weeks later I got a letter from the traffic division and to be brief the case was to my surprise taken to court and thereby resulting into me incurring legal expenses not to talk of my emotional and mental distress as a result. Eventually I went to court and represented my self as the legal cost was astronomical for me. The case was subsequently dismissed by the magistrates and they commented about how strange the case was considering there was no injury or any medical assistance sought by the person.
Can I legally sue this person for the distressed caused as a result of this false and fraudulent allegations.
Your comments/advice will be highly appreciated.
Magic919 said:
Consider paragraphs for next time, please.
What? More than the six into which the OP is separated from the outset?What would have been more to the point would have been a comment on the confusion created in the first sentence, and compounded later on.
OP: who brought the prosecution?
Streaky
Edited by streaky on Sunday 14th April 13:48
Can you prove that this woman knowingly gave a false statement to the Police? Not that it was a misguided interpretation or that it was sour grapes, but that there were actually facts that were completely made up and that they were purely intended to have you wrongly investigated?
It's a very steep hurdle to cross before you'll even get the Police remotely interested in prosecuting.
Equally trying any civil action against the Police is going to be difficult unless you can show they acted negligently or maliciously. Again, it's not going to be easy.
It's a very steep hurdle to cross before you'll even get the Police remotely interested in prosecuting.
Equally trying any civil action against the Police is going to be difficult unless you can show they acted negligently or maliciously. Again, it's not going to be easy.
I'm surprised your brief didn't go for a wasted costs order against the CPS if it was that blatant. As was said, you can have a go at a civil case. Not too sure if there's a cause for action against the woman since she didn't directly cause the loss though - I think that would be the CPS/police.
davepoth said:
I'm surprised your brief didn't go for a wasted costs order against the CPS if it was that blatant. As was said, you can have a go at a civil case. Not too sure if there's a cause for action against the woman since she didn't directly cause the loss though - I think that would be the CPS/police.
I may be wrong, but I would have thought the correct course of action would have been to judicially review the CPS decision to prosecute on the basis of failure to pass the evidential and/or public interest test. I would imagine this would have to be done prior to the case proceeding to trial, though.I'd say the kind of person to have a beef about enabling you to access your drive, then be queer enough to claim for an 'incident' and go through all that rigmorale is probably the exact sort of person that just isn't worth the further stress, time or money that would be spent to teach a lesson.
Chalk it up to experience and move on. Next time, perhaps, park on the street and move it later?
Chalk it up to experience and move on. Next time, perhaps, park on the street and move it later?
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