Car nicked - lawyer needed!

[Pappa Lurve]

Mods, sorry if this is the wrong forum for this - was not totally sure where to place it!

Long story short but I was having a small dispute over the lady who I rent a garage from. Total disputed amount was approx £200. I went away for two weeks and come back to discover she has emptied the garage, including my car which was just my daily smoker. Total value of stuff removed and seemingly destroyed was around 4-5k! Police say it appears to be a civil matter but they are looking into a couple of details which may lead to a criminal prosecution. However, I want to recover the value of the goods destroyed. I am unsure if this would be covered under property law or a litigation issue. Can anyone here point me in the right direction of a lawyer, possibly but not necessarily no-win-no-fee, who might be able to advise and possibly get involved?

I open this to the all knowing PH massive!

[Elskeggso]

Can you prove/has she admitted that she was the one who emptied the garage?

[Pappa Lurve]

Yup

[edo]

That has to be theft surely??

[Elskeggso]

Then what the frig is all this civil matter bks? Jesus wept, surely this is exactly what the rozzers are here to deal with

[Mr Darcy]

So where is the car now? just interested like.

[PintOfKittens]

Elskeggso said:

Then what the frig is all this civil matter bks? Jesus wept, surely this is exactly what the rozzers are here to deal with

Thast the standard police response to everything these days, anything so they can just bin a job

[john_r]

I assume the car has now been reported stolen?

[Dupont666]

I would report it all as stolen and the fact the landlady is (if not destroyed) is holding more than the value of the £200 to ransom.

If she held £200 worth of stuff to ransom that is a civil matter and she is almost within her rights... just (dishonestly is the charge)

But the fact its £4.8k (minus the £200) of stuff then that is theft of the items and she has admitted to it, she can either return the items and you leave the garage and sort out the rest in civil proceedings against you or you can get her done for theft from the garage during your lease of it.

That is the basis of my case and its going down a treat, but mine is more clear cut and it was classed as out and out theft and fraud if my possesions have deemed to have disappeared (just being cryptic as its on going, but police are picking up the offended to be charged very soon).

[TuxRacer]

Elskeggso said:

Then what the frig is all this civil matter bks? Jesus wept, surely this is exactly what the rozzers are here to deal with

They're just lackeys for politicians and corporations. Civilians are out on their own.

[herewego]

Presumably if you divvy up the 200 you owe, the stuff will reappear?

[Pappa Lurve]

The problem is that the car has been crushed! The "lady" decided it had no worth despite knowing nothing at all about cars. She also seems to have destroyed a unused Lotus Esprit S4s zaust, an unused OZ split rim and various other bits and bobs. The Police, even if they did charge her, cannot force her to pay me for the stuff so thus it needs to be a civil action. However, the BiB are looking into a fraud charge oddly. To be fair to them, until the Police got involved I had not had confirmation what had happened, where the car etc ended up, nothing really. I was also given some very good advice by a well-known PH'er who is also a BiB (if you reading this, thanks again!). Even if there is a criminal charge, I still need to go the legal route to recover the value of the goods, hence the need for a lawyer.

So annoying though!

[OnTheOverrun]

Elskeggso said:

Then what the frig is all this civil matter bks? Jesus wept, surely this is exactly what the rozzers are here to deal with

Too busy issuing S.59 for the distress and nuisance caused to people by someone having a mis-spaced number plate.

[Pappa Lurve]

herewego said:

Presumably if you divvy up the 200 you owe, the stuff will reappear?

I offered that, plus another £200 as it was my error so by way of apology. Was told to depart from the area while engaged in pro-creation. I took that as a refusal of my offer!

[Dupont666]

Pappa Lurve said:

The problem is that the car has been crushed! The "lady" decided it had no worth despite knowing nothing at all about cars. She also seems to have destroyed a unused Lotus Esprit S4s zaust, an unused OZ split rim and various other bits and bobs. The Police, even if they did charge her, cannot force her to pay me for the stuff so thus it needs to be a civil action. However, the BiB are looking into a fraud charge oddly. To be fair to them, until the Police got involved I had not had confirmation what had happened, where the car etc ended up, nothing really. I was also given some very good advice by a well-known PH'er who is also a BiB (if you reading this, thanks again!). Even if there is a criminal charge, I still need to go the legal route to recover the value of the goods, hence the need for a lawyer.

So annoying though!

surprising that as i would class it as fraud... pm me for details on my case and see how similar it is for it to be classed as theft/fraud...

[Lonely]

Pappa Lurve said:

The Police, even if they did charge her, cannot force her to pay me for the stuff so thus it needs to be a civil action.

Not yet it doesn't. Depending which route (if any) prosecution is taken the court may issue a compensation order. Or you could ask the police to consider restorative justice.

Pappa Lurve said:

However, the BiB are looking into a fraud charge oddly.

Due to the 'lady' assuming rights of owner and disposing of goods as her own even though she had no right to. It could be easier to prove than theft if she goes down the "I just tidied my garage out" route.

Did she give you any indication this would happen over the unpaid money?

Wonder why the police don't explain all this to you and keep you updated about their investigation. It may be difficult to prove anything at the end of the day but give the police a chance

Edited by Lonely on Tuesday 15th June 20:03

[mk1fan]

Surely if she was charged and convicted of theft of the goods then that would make your Civil claim a sure fire bet?

How was she able to get the car crushed without the registration?

[TomJS]

mk1fan said:

Surely if she was charged and convicted of theft of the goods then that would make your Civil claim a sure fire bet?

How was she able to get the car crushed without the registration?

Yes - Section 8 Civil Evidence Act 1968 IIRC.

If this woman has acted in the manner you have described, I'm pretty stunned OP.

If you can get the value of the claim against her over £5000 then it's well worth instructing a lawyer, as that would drag it out of the small claims track and into fast track - where costs are awarded unlike legal costs at small claims level. Doubt it will be a no win no fee case.

[Mag1calTrev0r]

This sounds like disgusting behaviour. Hope it works out for you

[Pappa Lurve]

Apparently she got the car squashed as her son-in-law is a lawyer and wrote a letter saying she could! I am due to see that letter tomorrow.

She did give me 21 days warning in a hand delivered letter but as I was away at the time there was not a lot I could do. To be fair, she did not know I was away. She also claims to have emailed and called me but I have no email, missed call or message from her.

I freely admit I forgot to drop the £200 over but as I normally paid her quarterly I did not remember to pay her before I went, my fault of course. However, to take and destroy £4k + worth of stuff seems to me totally OTT and thus I want to recover a fair percentage of that value. I guess I could go the small claims court route. Any thoughts?