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  1. Can I, or should I be sending a copy of this to the Home Office, possibly as a complaint? Can I, or should I be making a complaint to the Department of Works and Pensions? I was one of the victims of criminal damage. It was part of a seven-year campaign of harassment. It went to court, he was found guilty, but only received a conditional discharge. A one-sided and provably untrue version of events was presented to the court by the defence and we had no right of reply. The judge said the defence lawyer should have asked us about the things she was asking the defence witness, but then let her say anything she wanted unchallenged. It destroyed our reputation. It probably made his sentence lighter. We could have demonstrated it was a lie if we were questioned when we were the prosecution witness. Much of what they were doing to us they claimed we were doing to them. Some were not small lies, but big ones, falsely claiming the police had banned us from walking on the pavement past their house. We have been victims of these lies for years and now he has been allowed to use a courtroom to repeat these lies without being challenged. Three days after the trial he started his harassment again and has done something literally every day since for six months. I still hide in the house and never use our garden as a garden. We only leave our property by car and never walk into the village past his house due to his bullying and his setting up scams. He never turned up to court the five times he should have been there, even the final trial. Unknown to us he was claiming he had mental illness. His mental health claims do not match what we experience. In reality he is cocky and arrogant with a God complex, but was portrayed as a timid, delicate man. His partner claimed he had agoraphobia, only feeling safe in his house and garden. On and around the court dates he was walking his dog, driving his car and joining neighbours walking down the road spreading false rumours loud enough so we could hear as he walked by our property. He appeared to be enjoying this. The court was not told about this. He still walks his dog away from his house even today. She also claimed he had depression, but has been having a lot of fun harassing us over the years. Three days after the trial he climbed a tree overlooking our property, grinning at us as we cleared up the mess he had caused over the year. At the end of the trial when it was clear the judge was going to find him guilty, the defence lawyer also claimed he had paranoia. She also claimed he had an honestly held belief to justify his criminal damage. Note: Unknown to the court, both the defendant and partner have claimed they worked for mental health. He claimed he did so for 15 years. He stopped and has been living on benefits since 2012, coincidently the same year he was convicted for two counts of battery against someone else. He has boasted to us, and i believe others, that he is rinsing the system. There was a piece of evidence that had been given to the police/CPS that implied he knew his belief was not true, but that was not shown to the court. That may have also convinced the judge about his calculating character and questioned his so-called paranoia. I had discussed the importance of that with a young police officer and another police officer who attended my mother on a court day incident months before the final trial. They appear to have not informed the CPS. Also, the police had allegedly told him his belief was not true before any of these attacks on our property for the court related case. Again, this was not told to the court. We replaced the damaged property about five months before the trial. He was continually throwing debris, dog's mess etc into our garden and onto our roof. It would startle us when he did it on our conservatory as we entered that room. He knew we were there even with all blinds closed. He then attacked the replacement 535 times. This was not told to the court. Just 15 minutes before the first of those 535 attacks the police handed his full-time carer/partner a letter saying his belief was not true. The police alleged he filmed this. This was not told to the court. The carer/partner told the court his belief **was** true. She is not claiming she has mental health issues. We were not asked in court about what the police had told them and she did not offer that information. None of the vast amount of CCTV evidence as he started his attacks was shown to the court that showed his belief was definitely not true. He delayed the case for a year while he argued technicalities. He also tried to get incidents they were engineering throughout the year submitted into the case to possibly damage our reputation. We were reporting those incidents to the police. They were causing us considerable stress. They were also possibly emailing these incidents to the council, possibly to try to establish his claim of an alleged honestly held belief. We did not know that at the time. We were phoning the council to try to get them to stop the harassment, but the council lady was never there and did not phone us back. She still has not done so since the trial. When the judge asked us why we had installed CCTV, it was the only opportunity we had to mention the harassment campaign in court. We started giving details of strange and disturbing incidents that happened. However, before we could say anything that we could connect to the defendant, such as an assault he did against our eighty-year old father on our property, the judge said he got the idea and shut us up. I do not understand how a judge knows what you are going to say without hearing it. Is that allowed? The defendant sent in his partner to be his witness. She asked for screening saying she was terrified of us. This did not match the video of her calmly leaning on our gate away from their property after he had assaulted my elderly father. Of course the court knew nothing about that. (I am concerned that he might have claimed something similar and that was why he did not turn up to court. This would not match the wealth of film we have of him standing on a chair overlooking a six foot fence shouting foul and disgusting abuse at us leading up to the trial. The neighbours heard, but appear unaware of his mental health claims so this will have damaged our reputation further.) The defence lawyer asked the partner about us. She then started lying her head off, destroying our character. The judge stopped her and told the defence lawyer she should have asked us those questions. However, he then said he wanted to hear it and let her continue without challenge. I do not understand why the judge allowed that to happen. Is that allowed? Can we complain? The defence witness, now knowing she would be unchallenged, then started to really lie. For example, she falsely claimed the police had stopped us walking past their property. The police have never restricted our movements. The reality was the defendant had received a harassment information notice which he ignored. Then, I believe in retaliation, every time we walked by both he and his partner would engineer situations to try to make counter claims. In 2015 we ourselves decided to stop walking by and have not done so since. This was due to the scams and the extreme stress this was causing our elderly mother who has a stress related medical condition. This triggers a condition that requires a procedure and that carries risk. He knows she has a stress related condition. We are cut off from the village by walking due to his bullying. Effectively, the partner completely distorted reality and turned an incident of harassment by the defendant into making them look like the victims. We tried to walk by after the trial, but again he spat at us, so again we have stopped. The carer/partner lied about many other things, some of which we could easily prove were not true if asked. The defence lawyer must have known she was going to ask these questions, but did not ask us. So I am concerned she was knowingly trying to get these lies into the record without challenge. Not a word of our witness impact statement was read to the court, even though we had evidence of much of what was in it. The prosecutor was completely unaware the impact statement existed. We were told the defence lawyer would see it, so that may have been another reason why the defence lawyer may not have wanted any challenge to the partner's testimony. The defendant was also engaged in sleep deprivation from the moment he realised he had finally been caught about a year before the final trial and then all the way up to the trial. For example, by banging our outside wall between 12am and 3am. We had some good proof of this, including a 14 minute attack a week before the first trial date at about 1am where he had failed to cover our CCTV camera properly. You could see the pole coming from his garden. The police did not view or collect this as normal and allowed this to continue all the way up to the trial. Sometimes we would phone the police multiple times a day and our earlier phone calls for that day had already been lost. We had to turn up to the trial at our wits end, tired and agitated. This was in our witness impact statement, but was not told to the court. There were 27 attacks on the day before the trial. I do not understand why defendants are permitted to compromise a witness up to the trial and this is not mentioned in court. He was also boasting he would not have to turn up to court and his partner was going to say foul things about us. I think this was intimidation. All this was unknown to the court. Shortly after the sleep deprivation started my mother had a medical incident and had to go to hospital for the procedure again. This was the third time it has been triggered at a time when he was causing extreme stress. As normal, this was not known to the court. The defendant attacked our property on one of the trial days he did not attend when my elderly mother was on her own. She thought the roof was caving in. He was the only person there in his house. We had CCTV evidence that showed the attack came from his property. All our other cameras showed no one entered or left our house or garden until the police arrived. He was not questioned as normal. This was in our impact statement which was not known to the court. We had to stay up with our mother all night as she was having medical problems. We reported something to the police about that attack we did not understand. Months later in the court the defence lawyer said something that could have been related to that incident. It could have implied he was tampering with the evidence after the event to try to pretend something of minimal value was damaged instead. This was not known to the court. During one of the rants in the week or so before the trial, the defendant stopped ranting suddenly and then put on a victim voice saying he was depressed. This was really unusual as he is always really cocky. In the final trial we had to wait about an hour while they argued technicalities before we gave evidence. During the trial the defence lawyer said we knew he had mental health issues. I am concerned they may have been setting up a ruse in that hour to create an illusion for the judge. When we were asked if we knew he had mental health issues the judge shut us up and said something like we could not know his mental health status. What the judge did not realise is we might have evidence that could dispute he had mental health problems at all. When he was found guilty the judge said something on the lines of his two counts of battery in 2012 against someone else were nothing, but he had taken no evidence from us to realize this type of intimidating behaviour was happening to us and election canvassers since. Also, one of the court case related attacks was very aggressive, but was not shown to the court. The judge did not say it directly, but implied it with a story he told that we should just pick up the dog's mess he was throwing. The judge was unaware that a lot of the dog's mess was being thrown on our roof and clogged up our guttering, which resulted in a major and disgusting job. This continues to this day. The defendant has never been questioned by the police since we first contacted them in 2015, even for the assault against my father in 2016. For the court case he kept on bullying us on a daily basis for weeks while he refused to be questioned by the police. A community officer ultimately insisted he go into the police station. He went in, had a rant, refused to be questioned or sign anything and left within three minutes. The judge was told about the latter, but it appeared to have no effect on sentencing. The judge was not told about his other refusals to be questioned. The 535 attacks, and all the abuse throughout the year has been written off and not addressed by anyone and unknown to the court. Our inability to work due to lack of sleep literally destroyed our business as a result. As mentioned the defendant continues to harass us almost every day. His mental health claims do not match the evidence that was withheld from the court. In fact, you could say it shows a very calculating person. There are other very serious reasons why the defendant could be successfully lying about his mental health issues. I have written to the DWP and they effectively said to go somewhere else. They were named in court as proof he had these mental health issues. Also, I think the judge said there may have been a note from the DWP. It was not read to the court and once again not challenged. The defendant has boasted to us he had access to two of his children removed at one point, but they were returned at a time when he was harassing us. The DWP or social services employee who did this may have been the person who wrote the unchallenged note to the court and therefore could have a vested interest to hide her failings. What can be done? Were we treated correctly in that court? Was it correct for the judge to allow her provably false testimony to be entered into the trial which destroyed our character without giving us a right of reply? Was it correct for our witness impact statement to be 'lost', especially when we had proof of much of what was in it? Was it correct for the evidence that disputed his claims of an honestly held belief to be withheld from that court? Was it correct the judge took no evidence from us about either the defendant's or partner's character, but allowed her to totally destroy our character? Was it correct his claims of mental health were not challenged, especially when there were these more serious reasons to challenge those claims? I see little point in phoning the police as they ignore crime, even when we have good evidence. Only the community officers ever seem to want to try to stop him. There is no point in phoning the council as they rarely ever want to talk to us and may even be used by the defendant to manufacture a defence. Our lives were bad before the trial. They are much worse since. A few days ago the council have been cleaning up handmade road signs the defendant put up along the road that are mimicking real ones. We have had significant retaliation from the defendant possibly as a result. Today has been another bad day with him ranting at my father as he walked by our property with the child that is not biologically his. Surely the biological parents have a right to know how he uses his children? He has also thrown stuff into our garden again today. Life is a constant chore. We live with are curtains almost constantly drawn, or he films us or harasses us in some way when he sees us. Our lives are hollow and without meaning as we have to live under his rule in his twisted world. What is worse is they are never held accountable, challenged or questioned about the provable lies, not even in a court.
  2. The new bailiff regulations came into effect on 6th April 2014 and a most welcome change was that with the exception of CCJ's £600 that are transferred to the High Court each debt type (council tax arrears, unpaid road traffic debts and magistrate court fines) now has fixed bailiff fees (Compliance Fee of £75 and Enforcement Fee of £235). To bring the enforcement of unpaid magistrate court fines into line with the new regulations it was necessary to amend the Magistrate Courts Act 1980 and this was achieved under a series of amendments outlined in paragraph 45 of Schedule 13 of the Tribunals, Courts & Enforcement Act 2007. On the same date (6th April 2014) the Magistrate's Courts Rules 1981 were also amended to provide that the person owing the court fine would in future be referred to as a 'debtor'. Part 52 of the Criminal Procedure Rules (Enforcement of fines and others order for payment) outlines the procedure that must be followed when a warrant of control (previously a warrant of distress) is enforced by a bailiff/enforcement agent. As a consequence of Part 3 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and the associated Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 and the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 coming into effect on 6th April 2014 the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee has brought the rules up to date. The changes are outlined in the new Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2015 which were laid in Parliament a few days ago.
  3. Announcing the new UK Criminal Records Trade Body (CRTB) READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/announcing-the-new-uk-criminal-records-trade-body-crtb
  4. Dear readers, I'm currently making an application to obtain SC Clearance for a job I've recently been offered with a defense contractor in the UK. My problem is, as a young adult I was convicted of assault on two occasions, in both instances I received a fine as the matters were very minor. I understand that criminal convictions are a very serious subject when it concerns matters such as security clearance and that it is likely my application will be rejected. In general I'm a good citizen and a hard working individual I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm in the process of writing up my PhD and have not since been involved in any trouble with the police. Would having two convictions mean my application is rejected right away? If so is there an appeal process I could go through? Any advise on the matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Bob
  5. Hi everyone am posting this on behalf of a family member who is in this situation and doesn't use the internet. family member is a professional for the government. I will just refer to them as X.. X got their car keyed as did all the government team in a hospital car park by one of their service users who has a mental illness. Every single one of the people who got their cars keyed by this person reported it. The hospital captured this on CCTV which they have stated is 1080P sharp and clear and shows this person doing it. The police were called as a result and took the CCTV footage. All staff have so far settled claims either through insurance or cheapest quote. The mental patient here as well does have money as he jumped out of a window whilst in NHS care and got a substanial 8 figure sum from the NHS. X reported it to the police too, who under caution interviewed this service user/mental patient. The patient admitted keying X's car in a taped interview to the police. He said he did not realise X was not part of the government local team he keyed. Guilty person said he would pay full damages for repair of the car. X waited for him to pay 2-3 months but he did not, the police were chasing the service user/mental patient and the police had him mentally checked and a doctor declared he was under his own capacity of thought and has known what he did, so he is not unfit to be prosecuted. Police chased him for another month and told X not to worry they will be a witness in the small claims court if needs be to recover losses. X has this in writing in emails and alot of email evidence. Guilty party/person never paid and police now turn around and say X must get 3 quotes to satisfy guilty party's solicitor. X got 3 quotes, cheapest was £1400 inc car hire. Guilty party refused to pay it claiming it was too much. X was told the police cannot force him to pay it and X would need to go to small claims court. X filed in small claims court and the defendant/guilty party failed to respond within 14 days. X then filed judgement using MCOL online. X has today has a letter saying judgement has been entered. Now the Police have come back and said the guilty party will pay £1300 (excluding car hire) but will not pay court fees. Police have advised X to take the above as they will not be a witness if X does not take the above deal. X advised them can they put in writing (police after speaking to guilty party solicitor.) Police stated no they will not put in writing again cannot make him pay. X refused police's offer and stated the guilty party has had many opportunites to pay before court. Police offer now has told X in a u-turn that 2 weeks later after judgement has been filed that they have managed to get a cheque for X which £1300, still minus car fees and court cost. X was going to go back and say they will accept £1300 cheque as part payment but remaining balance will be settled through judgement can they do this? X feels it is unfair they are suffering and police is siding with guilty party kind of and wants to know if a judge would go against them for not taking the £1300 offer as X has suffered time off work and is not a high earner who is a single parent to 4 kids. X is unsure how judgement will work next as well, can anyone advise?
  6. Hi My wife was seriously assaulted at her work 2.5 years ago. After a huge amount of hassle, delays, and mis-handling of information, she was eventually awarded £1000. Initially, the claim had been rejected due to lack of a Police report - which had already been provided - and we had to appeal that. My wife suffered soft tissue damage to her wrist, a patient had violently grabbed her, pinned her down on a desk, and held her there for quite a while before being subdued. She was off work for 6 months, suffered PTSD as a result of the assault and attended several physiotherapy sessions, and now has developed what is being queried as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome which a specialist believes to be linked to the assault. We believe that very little has been taken into consideration when they (rather reluctantly it would seem) made the award, especially the PTSD, and now she has resigned due to her employer not making any attempt to accommodate her in a lighter role as her current position causes a great deal of pain and discomfort and essentially unable to carry out her duties. We are seriously considering appealing this and would appreciate any advice.
  7. Any help would be appreciated. I am trying to establish whether my solicitor has acted negligent by not following the pre-action protocol in respect of a Disrepair claim which has now been settled, after 6 years of my local council denying liability under the OLA 1957. I had an accident during the period where liability was being disputed but my solicitor is claiming that he did not have the funds to pursue a PI claim but never advised me on this, and on checking the pre action protocol under Disrepair claim there is reference that would suggest that in any event, a claim for PI arising from a Disrepair claim could and probably should have been made by a qualified legal representative as the Disrepair procedure makes reference to a PI claim if an injury has occurred because of the disrepair, in this case a out-house flooded everytime it rained.
  8. Hi , I heard a legend about something that happened to a friend of a friend: They were stopped on British Rail allegedly without means to pay and intent not to pay, They changed address. Summons Letter went to the wrong address They missed the court date. (A month ago) Only recently. the occupant of previous address notified them of the letter. They have been advised to do the following steps: 1. call the court ask for Statutory Declaration to re-open the case. 2. This will trigger an interview to decide on re-opening and they will be asked for their plea.. 3. Do not submit a plea - but say they want to get legal advice. 4. This will adjourn the case ? This is the bit where the story gets cloudy - does it sound right ? Now its adjourned, they can petition , plead with the rail company to settle out of court and avoid a criminal record? If the rail company refuse then they get one of these 'fare dodger' specialists to help mediate for out of court settlement. Hows that for a story?
  9. Hi I have been caught evading my fare on the trains several times over the course of the past month. I am certain the train company will start legal proceedings against me with a criminal prosecution. I was wondering what I could go to convince them to give me an out of court settlement. 100% my fault but a conviction would mean the end of my career and I will become unemployable. Does anyone know any good solicitors that might be able to help me? * title should read 'criminal prosecution'
  10. Hi - I hope someone can give me a bit of advice. My daughter, who recently split with her ex, got into a fracas with him and he is accusing her of robbery i.e. taking his mobile phone. Laughable, considering he stole her phone, run up £100 debt on it and also left her thousands of pound in credit card debt (in another thread). Police don't want to know about that part. Anyway, because of the tussle, they have decided to charge her with robbery contrary to section 8(1) of the Theft Act 1968 and she is due to go to court in November 2016. She suffers from depression and anxiety, both of which are currently being treated, no previous offences and definitely not known to police in any regard. She is also unemployed and has no income presently whilst Universal Credit is being sorted out (first payment date will be around November 18th). My questions are: 1. Will she be able to get any legal representation? 2. Can she gain access to any witness statements prior to court date - this is the most relevant question because she is thinking of just pleading guilty so the judge is more lenient. The anxiety this is causing her could literally be the straw that breaks the camel's back, so the thought of it going to trial is killing her. I'm loathe for her to plead guilty due to the impact on future jobs/credit etc. We think the witness is contrived and therefore my daughter feels there's no point in standing in court saying she's not guilty when the odds are stacked against her. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a witness of her own. I would be really grateful for anyone's thoughts on this and hopefully point us in the right direction for further help. Thank you
  11. Hi. I have just registered, although I have been on this forum many times over the years as a guest. I am in a bad place, i feel embarrassed. After my marriage broke down this year my ridiculous reaction to the stress and sorrow was to start gambling online and I am now in a position where I owe £30k. I have taken, all in the space of 5 months, 4 x £7.5k loans and have lost it all on a crazy impulsive online gambling spree. I am absolutely disgusted at myself about this behaviour so please do not act on your urge to tell me how wrong this was. I know more than you can imagine. I have never, i repeat EVER gambled in the past and I am a 52 year old man. I am not and have never been a gambler which is why this is even more difficult to make sense of. I had zero debt just 12 months ago. My question in this instance is this: Given the way this debt was taken out, ie in a very short period, spent on gambling (with the ridiculous hope of making losses back each time) and the fact that I exaggerated my income by about 25% in my loan applications, can this lead to a Fraud or criminal prosecution? I didnt lie about anything else, and I stated my other loans at each new application. Can the banks or the official receiver (i will be going BR ) find this behaviour so wrong that I could be charged? I understand that I will most definitely be having a BRU. The use of the funds is clearly documented in bank statements. ie I didnt take loans out and cash them out or purchase things, or give to friends or go on holiday. It was all used on gambling over a very short period. Please only reply if you are aware of English Law regarding fraud (if this is in fact fraud) and under which section of the Fraud Act? I really need some solid knowledgeable advice as I am extremely stressed. I have been reading about S1, S2 of the Fraud Act and searching online but can not really find something clear to suggest whether this is something that, a) can be prosecuted, and b) is in fact prosecuted. Some posts in other forums state that they have never heard of anybody being prosecuted for lying or exxageratin on a consumer loan application but I find that hard to believe? Why would the CPS have a Fraud Act and why would they not pursue it if a bank requested them to? If anybody has been prosecuted please share your experience or some points, or PM me if you are not comfortable to post online. If this is in the wrong forum please move to the appropriate one. Thank you
  12. Even though i'm new on here i've been on here enough to know that this type of 'help me' threads get posted sooo many times so here another one. To keep it short: i was stopped by revenue inspectors and failed to produce an oyster (i used my sister's but as my sister was with me at the time literally with me i gave her oyster back) when the inspector asked for my oyster i just said i didn't have one because my sister was terrified and i didn't want to get her in trouble so took the responsibillity. (i'm older than her). tfl sent me legal proceedings letter and now a 'single procedure justice' notice to plead guilty or not guilty within 21 days. This 21 day ends next week thursday. Because this isn't a court summons so does this mean no out of court settlement?????? also ANYONE have their number i've searched every where but can't find it. i'm so stressed out.
  13. I really do not know if anyone can help me with this but I need some advice. It is a long story my ex-husbands daughter accused my brother of rape about 5 years ago and said that it took place when she was 6 in my home. (my ex and his daughter was staying at my home as he was beaten up where he was and I allowed them to stay temporarily). She was 13 at the time she made the allegations. My brother was arrested and went to court where she changed her story 3 times and my brother was found not guilty by jury. She was placed in foster care due to her behaviour and making allegation against male teacher at her school and her own father. Further to this, she accused my brother of rape a second time in my parents home a year later and again my brother was arrested and my parents home stripped by police (one room) and he was let out on bail. She then absconded from her foster home and with friends went to my parents home and smashed a window in the front door. She also went around telling some of the neighbours that my brother was a paedophile and he was nearly beaten up by a few boys however they were spoken to by Police. About 2 days later his daughter texted me and apologised and said that she lied. We were informed by the local Police that a voice note had been placed on her file stating that she made false accusations and she had been moved out of the area. When she turned 16 she moved back in with her father who lived in our borough and he moved to another borough. I have now been told that although she has moved to another borough she will have the options of moving back to our borough when she i 18 in 2 weeks time. She has already sent me a message last year on facebook messenger with abuse a nd has also sent my brother messages under an alias which unfortunately he deleted. My brother has learning difficulties and what she did affected him very badly and continues to affect him and also affected my parents. We do not want her back in the borough but how do I go about informing Social Services in this borough about this? Help please:sad::sad:
  14. In March I started a thread on here about the introduction by the Ministry of Justice of a Criminal Courts Charge that from May this year was to be added to each Magistrate Court Fine. The charge ranged from between £150 up to a maximum of £1,200. The charge is paid on top of the fine, compensation order, prosecution costs and victims surcharge. As can be seen in the following thread that I started, this charge has lead to the resignation of many Magistrates. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?443504-Criminal-Courts-Charge-to-be-added-to-all-Magistrate-Court-fines. There has been an intense amount of lobbying from amongst others, the Magistrate's Association and the Howard League for Penal Reform for this charge to be scrapped and I am delighted to hear today that the Justice Minister; Michael Gove has agreed that the Criminal Court Charge is to be SCRAPPED on 24th December !! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34993428
  15. The criminal courts charge is to be scrapped from 24 December, Justice Secretary Michael Gove has announced. Since April, convicted criminals in England and Wales have had to pay a charge of between £150 and £1,200 towards the cost of their case. MPs had called for it to be axed and the Magistrates Association said the decision was "tremendously welcome". The charge is paid on top of fines, compensation orders and defendants' own legal charges, and is higher for those convicted after pleading not guilty. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34993428
  16. Hi I was drawn to an offer of two pairs of glasses for the price of one at our local optican so I took up the offer. Normally my employer pays for my test but this offer seemed good. The experience was okay until I was asked by a counter person to answer some medical questions about my parents. She asked if my parents had Glaucoma and Diabetes. I said I thought my father had Glaucoma and Diabetes. He did have diabetes. She then said I can now have a free test. I was willing to pay there and then, though she insisted that I qualify for a free test. She asked me to sign a form for the free test. I bought the glasses and have to go back next Week. Whist in the shopping centre, I asked my elderly Mother if she could recall Glaucoma in the family. She could not remember. So I went back to the opticians ( 30 mins later ) and explained to the same lady. She then replied that I had already signed the form and could be prosecuted for making a false claim. I was shocked !!! I then insisted that I pay for the test to remove any uncertainty so I paid. However, her attitude was awful. Even when I said that I hoped to save some money by getting a free test but could not ask dad because he had died. She replied, that is too bad. I feel like a criminal even though I offered and did pay the fee in the end. Her attitude was awful and now I fear the NHS will be after me next for making a false claim. I sensed she had it in for me, the now paying customer. I thought I would share this as an experience because even the customer can be intimidated. Thanks, Stella Update.... just checked with my Brother. Apparently my Dad did have Glaucoma and was taking eye drops to help.
  17. In March this year I started a thread about the introduction of the Criminal Courts Charge. A link is below. As already mentioned in my above thread, Magistrates themselves are very concerned indeed about this additional charge that is added to all magistrate court fines and over the past few months there have been reports of Magistrates resigning. Thankfully the most recent resignation has been reported in the media: For the full story see : - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/north-tyneside-magistrate-resigns-over-9752472#ICID=FB-Chron-main
  18. In the Pranksters blog, he has been informed of a company in Devon issuing PCNs http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/devon-parking-agency-[problem].html If anyone gets a ticket from these people, treat with extreme caution
  19. I notice from the reaction I received when I mentioned the basic procedure for processing criminal actions, that there seems to be confusion as to the procedures and terms involved. It is not really surprising as most of the matters discussed here are of a civil nature. But for those not familiar with the fundamentals, here is my take on it. Firstly all criminal proceedings must start in the magistrate’s court. I have read people saying that you can chose where to start an action on say a private prosecution, you cannot. There are two kinds of offences which can be considered at the MC, these are defined by their seriousness, and the maximum fine or term of commitment that can be imposed on conviction. These are: A “summary offence” and “indictable offence” A “summary offence” is for less serious criminal offences. The sentencing is limited to a far lower level than in more serious(indicatable) cases which are passed up to the Crown court An “indictable offence” can only be heard at the crown court, this is after the defendant has attended the magistrate’s court. The magistrates will remand or bail them to appear at the Crown Court after consideration of the case in question. These more serious offences such as theft rape or murder are generally heard by a jury. In addition to these there are also “each way” offences; this is where the action could fall into either of the two categories. On application to the magistrate, they will make the decision as to which court is most appropriate for the offence, and assign it to the relevant one. Most legislation which presents the possibility of criminal charges will also state the kind of action which may be taken. For instance in section 68 of the Tribunals Act schedule 12, the action which may be taken for obstructing an EA in the course of his duty, is prescribed as “on summary conviction”. 68(1)A person is guilty of an offence if he intentionally obstructs a person lawfully acting as an enforcement agent. (2)A person is guilty of an offence if he intentionally interferes with controlled goods without lawful excuse. (3)A person guilty of an offence under this paragraph is liable on summary conviction to— (a)imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks, or (b)a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale, or ©both. Similarly the theft act of instance will say by indictment and the fraud act may say either way.
  20. I'm seriously considering suing a cowboy kitchen fitter for what he has done. I dont want to put too much detail here as there is a chance he will read it, who knows. He is a cowboy and he knows it. However, I keep hearing there is no point in suing someone if he doesnt have money. If this type of fitter is charging people say £200 per day then there is money coming in. As far as I'm aware he is self employed and the name he trades under is not a limited company. I'm in no doubt whatsoever that I would win the judgement, I have reams of proof and photographic evidence. My only concern is, given how devious he is, he must have a way to hide his income. Surely we do not live in a world where a halfwitted builder can outsmart the legal system?!! How would I overcome this? Advice appreciated.
  21. Last week yet another debtor appeared in court for cutting off a wheel clamp. In this case, a bailiff from JBW Group applied a wheel clamp to the debtors car in relation to a debt for council tax. The debtor 'claimed' that he thought that the clamp had been left on his car by a friend as a joke and accordingly, he used an angle grinder to remove the clamp. Clearly the court did not believe his story and after admitting causing criminal damage the court ordered him to pay £435 which was made up of a fine of £250, costs of £85, compensation of £75 and victims surcharge of £25. http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Man-used-angle-grinder-cut-wheel-clamp-car/story-26547903-detail/story.html
  22. I am applying for a job in a call centre for a well known transport company. This is a simple helpdesk job. There's no mention of CRB or DBS in the job description and it is definitely not a job that involves working with minors or vulnerable people. Almost at the end of a very long online application I get asked: "Do you have any cautions or criminal convictions?" There is no mention of whether they are spent or unspent. I do have a caution and a minor conviction (paid with a fine) circa 20 years ago, and that is definitely spent. There is no way to call the HR or personnel dept by phone or email. I am tempted to say "No" and then explain this at an eventual interview, but I fear they could use this against me later in case they meant asking for spent convictions. How should I behave in this case?
  23. For a very long time (at least four years that I know of) plans have been made at the Ministry of Justice to charge a fee to debtors when court fines are imposed. I have posted brief details of these plans on the forum over the past year and the official announcement was made yesterday of the actual amounts and the reason why they are being charged. The following link provides some background and I will post further details later. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/336085/fact-sheet-criminal-courts-charge.pdf
  24. sorry if this is in the wrong section , i scoured the site trying to figure out which section it should be in , if its in the wrong one , can you please put it in the right one , thankyou . hi there all ,just a quick question i need to ask , but i will give u a little outline of what its about first , i have just had a successfull case in court , in regards to a historic child abuse i suffered as a child , and it took me 27 yrs to bring it to court , and now my stepfather has been found guilty of 6 counts , and hes looking at spending the next 5-10 yrs in prison , and i was advised to put in a compensation claim via the criminal injuries board , but i have read there website and it seems that because i served a 8 month prison sentance in 2010 , ( but only did 2 months and was then out on tag ) , it now seems that i fail to qualify for the criminal injuries that happened to me as a child , is there any way round this , or am i just gonna hit a brick wall ,? it seems unfair that , that is the way they deal with cases , just because i did something silly in 2010 , its now punishing me form maknig a claim , because of that ..i would try and claim against my stepdad , but i know he has nothing , by what i have been told , and criminal injuries was my next stop, the reason i have come to this conclusion is because of the paragraph below , : The 2012 scheme came into force on 30 September 2012 and applies to all claims received on or after 27 November 2012. It is less generous than previous schemes, with certain minor injuries removed altogether and others reduced in value. Residency criteria now mean that most applicants must be ordinarily resident in the UK, or a British or EU citizen. The rules on criminal convictions are more restrictive in that having an unspent criminal conviction that resulted in a prison sentence will mean automatic rejection, no matter what the offence.
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