hi there to cut along story short i was arrested bk last december , as i was caught up in possession of some dodgy american express travellers cheques which i pleaded guilty to(went to court in june) , and went to prison i got 8 months and did 10 weeks and am doing 6 weeks on tag ,

anyways when i was arrested the police removed 3 computers from my house 2 towers and a laptop,

anyways once i was taken to the police station and went into custody they obviously asked me to empty my pockets , in which i had my bank cards and my mobile phone ,

when i was released after questionning they refused to hand me bk my mobile phone and my bankcards , and i complained and they told me that if i did not leave now they would keep me in for longer , so i left ,

it went to court and when in court they had a confiscation order read out in which my computers were not on there ,

so i contacted my solicitor and asked him to arrange to get them bk , and also my stuff that was taken from me when i was in custody ....

so i waited till i got out of prison and went down the police station to get my stuff bk , BUT i got told the arresting officer had to release them , so i am waiting patiently for my stuff bk

but it now appears that half my stuff is missing , they seem to have missplaced my laptop and they now have no recollection of taking my mobile phone or my bankcards ,

my solicitor is gonna try and find the original arrest sheet to see what was taken off me ,

but if it turns out that the police have lost my stuff , where do i start on claiming my stuff bk like my laptop and my mobile phone and my bankcards ??

or even seeking compensation for the items that they have lost ???

any help would be much appreciated ty

Hi Badboy,

Clearly if they have taken your possessions away from you and they have been listed, but they haven't been returned to you, then I would lodge a complaint with

http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/index/complainants/forms.htm or write to the Chief Superintendent who covers the police station concerened.

You could check to see if these items (computers particularly got disposed of by the police while you were imprisoned.) I think would have been under the Police (Property) Act 1897.

Something similar was discussed here Gough & Anor v West Midlands Police [2004] EWCA Civ 206 (02 March 2004) .

Do you have any record, or a photos with you using them in your home, internet records? If you purchased any of this on the internet it might help with any gaps in the records.

You were guilty of the travellers cheque fraud so I would have thought they may have tried to keep valuables if they saw them as being the proceeds of your crime. At some point converting them to cash.

However, if all above board then records of this should exist.

well update i got my pcs back from the police( missing one tower) which they claim to have no idea where it is , so i will be claiming for that BUT the laptop and the tower i got bk are the problem ,

my laptop has been completely wiped of pictures files like family pics and of my mother who passed away 2 yrs ago and all my other stuff , i was wondering are the police allowed to wipe ur computer while they look thru it b4 they give it u back , and also my tower does not work what so ever , i turn it on and it wont work , now b4 i gave it the police i had loads of stuff on there like my online gaming server which took me months to make and now its usless , so should i put in a claim and a complaint regarding them wiping my comps and the fact that they have lost a tower and made my other tower unuseable any advice would be much appreciated

cheers

badboy09

ps there was absolutley nothing in my computers that would alarm the police what so ever , nothing dodgy what so ever just the normal stuff people have on there comps , and if there had of been they woul have asked me about it , but nothing at all im fuming with them !!!!!

Hi Badboy

The advice is the same, complain

Clearly if they have taken your possessions away from you and they have been listed, but they haven't been returned to you, then I would lodge a complaint with

http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/index/complainants/forms.htm or write to the Chief Superintendent who covers the police station concerened.

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