Doberman bites Bailiff on the arse! Police threaten arrest

[tomtubby]

I did not realise that you could be in trouble for the signs that you have outside your home warning about dogs.

 

When I was living at our previous home I used to walk my two Sussex Spaniels past a house that had a brilliant sign that said this:

 

 

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO REACH THIS GATE........OUR DOGS CAN DO IT IN 15 SECONDS !!!!!!

[TheChancellor]

Oh what a wonderful thread. I would suggest a bite on a bailiffs arse could be matched to the dog that did it by puncture marks but would require scene of crime officers plus all other manner of specialist resources to prove it. I very much doubt if they'd bother.

 

 

Just had an awful vision of the bailiff with his kecks down being perused over by SOCO with a large magnifying glass.Any volunteers uurgh.

 

Plenty of inocuous sounding signs,leave any valuables neatly packed ready for stealing & make sure the Dobies hand the bailiff or burglar a Business Card from a good no-win-no-fee solicitor before biting them.

 

Welcome to Britain (and hopefully very soon you'll be welcome to it).

[lulu64uk]

Contact Trevor Cooper Solicitor as soon as possible Doglaw

 

 

EDIT In previous DDA cases it has been deemed that if you display a sign warning that your dog may protect the land being entered into, then that is an admission that your dog is dangerous.

Edited October 9, 2008 by lulu64uk

[DobieGal]

Thanks lulu64uk. My husband has spoken with our company solicitor (yes farmers do have one) about this and a previous incident with bailiffs. A sign beware of dog or dogs running free does not say a dog is dangerous. That's the signage at the entrance to the farm which the bailiffs passed to get to the back of our property.

 

After the consultation he drove into town to personally serve at the police station a hand-written demand for £20 grand. £5 grand for each of the following:

 

a) Making a factually inaccurate statement about the law namely the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

b) Threatening us with vexatious arrests and falsely arresting my husband in 2006

c) Obstructing a farm in the ordinary course of business and

d) Failure to act at the scene of a crime allowing a bailiff to commit extortion by threatening to take goods namely a potato picker not belonging to a debtor named on paperwork in his possession

 

A bailiff wrote on a document GRIMME POTATO HARVESTER only because farmhands preparing it for the day told him what it was.

 

My husband was kept waiting for 20 minutes at the police station before leaving and head for police divisional HQ and served his letter and bailiff document on the force’s chief constable where they agreed to send an inspector round to see us. Our solicitor will be doing the litigation and will be present to formally ask the police inspector the police pay £20,000.

 

Our solicitor will intervene if police refuse to drop the threat of charges against me within seven days. He says common law means common sense (dog behind locked door) and a court is unlikely to rule otherwise. Even if police retract its threat, the bailiff can sue us in a civil claim but thinks this is unlikely because our counterclaim would negate any benefit. The police don’t have a realistic chance of a successful prosecution and threat of arrest only causes aggravation.

 

On the previous bailiff incident my husband, a Bruce Springsteen with a foul mouth ordered police off his farm citing these adolf hitlers have no right to deprive Waitrose of its Maris Pipers and McDonalds of their French fries, but police responded by arresting him for obstruction and theft. My husband said the officers were having a problem with their ego and he will charge their chief police officer with false arrest and improper interpretation of the law. Until now he didn’t pursue the matter.

 

My husband gave up reporting crime years ago and as with many farmers, have a way with dealing with crime. Last time he reported crime was a stolen wooden gate at a remote end of the farm. Police palmed him off with Victim Support counselling sessions.

 

Our solicitor is making an official complaint against the bailiffs for obstructive behaviour and levying on equipment needed in the ordinary course of business. He thinks the court will probably dismiss because no money changed hands. In any event it would have cost bailiffs more than £170 to move the potato picker off the farm. When lending it to another farm it is transported by road using our ERF and a 38ft low-loader.

 

We wonder what makes policemen tick and why bailiffs have nothing more fulfilling with their lives.

[lulu64uk]

Sounds like you have it all sorted, however, it has been used in court that a sign saying "beware of the dog" is an admission of guilt that a dog "may" be dangerous- this was used in a case of a greyhound called Billy who was seized under the DDA in the 1990's. I have been at the forefront of the DDA since 1990 (and the rumblings of the legistration before this) and have sat in court whilst the police will pull every trick they know to get a destruction order - Luckily Billy escaped the death penalty - but I would warn any dog owner of the perils of displaying such notices on their gates/fences. what may seem light hearter humour to us dog lovers (ie I can get to the gate in......) can be used against you should you fall foul of this law. May I also point out that the DDA does not only apply to Pit Bull Types (only under section 1 and 4b) Section 3 refers to any dog that causes apprehension in a public place (note, an injury does not have to occur) The DDA is a very dangerous piece of legistration, not to be taken lightly.

 

I am glad you have sought advice - and hugs to the dogs x

[DobieGal]

We understood NOT having dog warning signs incurs greater liability for dog injury.

 

The dog signs on the farm because our insurance company insists. My husband's border collie is soppy as a wet flannel and stays with him on the farm. My Dobies are kept in the garden because they tend to menace farm workers and only let out on the farm night to keep people in check. It's only a problem if bailiffs calls at night but I don’t think that’s happened.

 

Early one morning about a year ago an unmarked van unknown to us drove onto the farm with two men both smartly suited up in business attire. A Billy goat in the yard dented the van by repeatedly running into the side of it as amused farm workers looked on. Without getting out, the driver u-turned and left and we heard nothing more. Hindsight suggests they were bailiffs. There is no Dangerous Goats Act and there is no liability for the action of livestock on a farm (unless an employee or other person with permission to be on the farm).

 

I think my husband just wants the police to quit their indiscriminate threats of arrest. A bailiff commandeering a £160,000 potato picker and people dumping cars on us is a civil matter. Me keeping dogs in the back garden and my husband clearing vehicles away with a JCB and throwing bailiffs off his farm is criminal. The police are contradicting themselves.

 

I think police ignore their own rules whenever they become inconvenient and solicitors now see it a money-making opportunity.

Edited October 10, 2008 by jonni2bad

[miaow99]

Great thread - your husband sounds like he has just the right idea!!

 

The comment about livestock on a farm not being legally liable is interesting.

 

I'd be tempted to keep a few bad tempered-pigs to let out next time.

 

YouTube - Clicker training a boar to mock attack

 

Have you seen the film Hannibal?

 

Or failing that, keep a few geese in the back yard. Those things are terrifying.

Edited November 12, 2008 by miaow99