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    • further polished WS using above suggestions and also included couple of more modifications highlighted in orange are those ok to include?   Background   1.1  The Defendant received the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) on the 06th of January 2020 following the vehicle being parked at Arla Old Dairy, South Ruislip on the 05th of December 2019.   Unfair PCN   2.1  On 19th December 2023 the Defendant sent the Claimant's solicitors a CPR request.  As shown in Exhibit 1 (pages 7-13) sent by the solicitors the signage displayed in their evidence clearly shows a £60.00 parking charge notice (which will be reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days of issue).  2.2  Yet the PCN sent by the Claimant is for a £100.00 parking charge notice (reduced to £60 if paid within 30 days of issue).   2.3        The Claimant relies on signage to create a contract.  It is unlawful for the Claimant to write that the charge is £60 on their signs and then send demands for £100.    2.4        The unlawful £100 charge is also the basis for the Claimant's Particulars of Claim.  No Locus Standi  3.1  I do not believe a contract with the landowner, that is provided following the defendant’s CPR request, gives MET Parking Services a right to bring claims in their own name. Definition of “Relevant contract” from the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4,  2 [1] means a contract Including a contract arising only when the vehicle was parked on the relevant land between the driver and a person who is-   (a) the owner or occupier of the land; or   (b) Authorised, under or by virtue of arrangements made by the owner or occupier of the land, to enter into a contract with the driver requiring the payment of parking charges in respect of the parking of the vehicle on the land. According to https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/section/44   For a contract to be valid, it requires a director from each company to sign and then two independent witnesses must confirm those signatures.   3.2  The Defendant requested to see such a contract in the CPR request.  The fact that no contract has been produced with the witness signatures present means the contract has not been validly executed. Therefore, there can be no contract established between MET Parking Services and the motorist. Even if “Parking in Electric Bay” could form a contract (which it cannot), it is immaterial. There is no valid contract.  Illegal Conduct – No Contract Formed   4.1 At the time of writing, the Claimant has failed to provide the following, in response to the CPR request from myself.   4.2        The legal contract between the Claimant and the landowner (which in this case is Standard Life Investments UK) to provide evidence that there is an agreement in place with landowner with the necessary authority to issue parking charge notices and to pursue payment by means of litigation.   4.3 Proof of planning permission granted for signage etc under the Town and country Planning Act 1990. Lack of planning permission is a criminal offence under this Act and no contract can be formed where criminality is involved.   4.4        I also do not believe the claimant possesses these documents.   No Keeper Liability   5.1        The defendant was not the driver at the time and date mentioned in the PCN and the claimant has not established keeper liability under schedule 4 of the PoFA 2012. In this matter, the defendant puts it to the claimant to produce strict proof as to who was driving at the time.   5.2 The claimant in their Notice To Keeper also failed to comply with PoFA 2012 Schedule 4 section 9[2][f] while mentioning “the right to recover from the keeper so much of that parking charge as remains unpaid” where they did not include statement “(if all the applicable conditions under this Schedule are met)”.     5.3         The claimant did not mention parking period, times on the photographs are separate from the PCN and in any case are that arrival and departure times not the parking period since their times include driving to and from the parking space as a minimum and can include extra time to allow pedestrians and other vehicles to pass in front.    Protection of Freedoms Act 2012   The notice must -   (a) specify the vehicle, the relevant land on which it was parked and the period of parking to which the notice relates;  22. In the persuasive judgement K4GF167G - Premier Park Ltd v Mr Mathur - Horsham County Court – 5 January 2024 it was on this very point that the judge dismissed this claim.  5.4  A the PCN does not comply with the Act the Defendant as keeper is not liable.  No Breach of Contract   6.1       No breach of contract occurred because the PCN and contract provided as part of the defendant’s CPR request shows different post code, PCN shows HA4 0EY while contract shows HA4 0FY. According to PCN defendant parked on HA4 0EY which does not appear to be subject to the postcode covered by the contract.  6.2         The entrance sign does not mention anything about there being other terms inside the car park so does not offer a contract which makes it only an offer to treat,  Interest  7.1  It is unreasonable for the Claimant to delay litigation for  Double Recovery   7.2  The claim is littered with made-up charges.  7.3  As noted above, the Claimant's signs state a £60 charge yet their PCN is for £100.  7.4  As well as the £100 parking charge, the Claimant seeks recovery of an additional £70.  This is simply a poor attempt to circumvent the legal costs cap at small claims.  7.5 Since 2019, many County Courts have considered claims in excess of £100 to be an abuse of process leading to them being struck out ab initio. An example, in the Caernarfon Court in VCS v Davies, case No. FTQZ4W28 on 4th September 2019, District Judge Jones-Evans stated “Upon it being recorded that District Judge Jones- Evans has over a very significant period of time warned advocates (...) in many cases of this nature before this court that their claim for £60 is unenforceable in law and is an abuse of process and is nothing more than a poor attempt to go behind the decision of the Supreme Court v Beavis which inter alia decided that a figure of £160 as a global sum claimed in this case would be a penalty and not a genuine pre-estimate of loss and therefore unenforceable in law and if the practice continued, he would treat all cases as a claim for £160 and therefore a penalty and unenforceable in law it is hereby declared (…) the claim is struck out and declared to be wholly without merit and an abuse of process.”  7.6 In Claim Nos. F0DP806M and F0DP201T, District Judge Taylor echoed earlier General Judgment or Orders of District Judge Grand, stating ''It is ordered that the claim is struck out as an abuse of process. The claim contains a substantial charge additional to the parking charge which it is alleged the Defendant contracted to pay. This additional charge is not recoverabl15e under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4 nor with reference to the judgment in Parking Eye v Beavis. It is an abuse of process from the Claimant to issue a knowingly inflated claim for an additional sum which it is not entitled to recover. This order has been made by the court of its own initiative without a hearing pursuant to CPR Rule 3.3(4)) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998...''  7.7 In the persuasive case of G4QZ465V - Excel Parking Services Ltd v Wilkinson – Bradford County Court -2 July 2020 (Exhibit 4) the judge had decided that Excel had won. However, due to Excel adding on the £60 the Judge dismissed the case.  7.8        The addition of costs not previously specified on signage are also in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2, specifically paras 6, 10 and 14.   7.9        It is the Defendant’s position that the Claimant in this case has knowingly submitted inflated costs and thus the entire claim should be similarly struck out in accordance with Civil Procedure Rule 3.3(4).   In Conclusion   8.1        I invite the court to dismiss the claim.  Statement of Truth  I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.   
    • Well the difference is that in all our other cases It was Kev who was trying to entrap the motorist so sticking two fingers up to him and daring him to try court was from a position of strength. In your case, sorry, you made a mistake so you're not in the position of strength.  I've looked on Google Maps and the signs are few & far between as per Kev's MO, but there is an entrance sign saying "Pay & Display" (and you've admitted in writing that you knew you had to pay) and the signs by the payment machines do say "Sea View Car Park" (and you've admitted in writing you paid the wrong car park ... and maybe outed yourself as the driver). Something I missed in my previous post is that the LoC is only for one ticket, not two. Sorry, but it's impossible to definitively advise what to so. Personally I'd probably gamble on Kev being a serial bottler of court and reply with a snotty letter ridiculing the signage (given you mentioned the signage in your appeal) - but it is a gamble.  
    • No! What has happened is that your pix were up-to-date: 5 hours' maximum stay and £100 PCN. The lazy solicitors have sent ancient pictures: 4 hours' maximum stay and £60 PCN. Don't let on!  Let them be hoisted by their own lazy petard in the court hearing (if they don't bottle before).
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    • We have finally managed to obtain the transcript of this case.

      The judge's reasoning is very useful and will certainly be helpful in any other cases relating to third-party rights where the customer has contracted with the courier company by using a broker.
      This is generally speaking the problem with using PackLink who are domiciled in Spain and very conveniently out of reach of the British justice system.

      Frankly I don't think that is any accident.

      One of the points that the judge made was that the customers contract with the broker specifically refers to the courier – and it is clear that the courier knows that they are acting for a third party. There is no need to name the third party. They just have to be recognisably part of a class of person – such as a sender or a recipient of the parcel.

      Please note that a recent case against UPS failed on exactly the same issue with the judge held that the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 did not apply.

      We will be getting that transcript very soon. We will look at it and we will understand how the judge made such catastrophic mistakes. It was a very poor judgement.
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      This is good ethical practice.

      It would be very nice if the parcel delivery companies – including EVRi – practised this kind of thing as well.

       

      OT APPROVED, 365MC637, FAROOQ, EVRi, 12.07.23 (BRENT) - J v4.pdf
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The sub-postmasters scandal


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Seems that speaks for itself - and not (at least properly) addressed issues that were highlighted by others/audits

The Tory Legacy

Record high: Taxes, Immigration, Excrement in waterways, energy company/crony profits

Crumbling: Hospitals, Schools, council services, businesses and roads

 

If only the Govt had thrown a protective ring around care homes

with the same gusto they do around their crooked MPs

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  • honeybee13 changed the title to The sub-postmasters scandal

"

What sort of bugs resulted?

As early as 2001, McDonnell’s team had found “hundreds” of bugs. A full list has never been produced, but successive vindications of post office operators have revealed the sort of problems that arose. One, named the “Dalmellington Bug”, after the village in Scotland where a post office operator first fell prey to it, would see the screen freeze as the user was attempting to confirm receipt of cash. Each time the user pressed “enter” on the frozen screen, it would silently update the record. In Dalmellington, that bug created a £24,000 discrepancy, which the Post Office tried to hold the post office operator responsible for.

Another bug, called the Callendar Square bug – again named after the first branch found to have been affected by it – created duplicate transactions due to an error in the database underpinning the system: despite being clear duplicates, the post office operator was again held responsible for the errors."

 

WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM

From bugs to unqualified staff, the Post Office’s point-of-sale system was inadequate on many levels

 

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The Tory Legacy

Record high: Taxes, Immigration, Excrement in waterways, energy company/crony profits

Crumbling: Hospitals, Schools, council services, businesses and roads

 

If only the Govt had thrown a protective ring around care homes

with the same gusto they do around their crooked MPs

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"Stephen Bradshaw, a Post Office employee involved in the criminal investigation of nine people, will appear on Thursday. He had been due to give evidence in November, but his appearance was postponed after the late disclosure of relevant documents by the Post Office. A number of similar postponements held up proceedings last year, despite the Post Office spending £24.4m on disclosure in 18 months."

- Stephen Bradshaw was evidently a PO investigator involved in the prosecutions

 

WWW.LAWGAZETTE.CO.UK

Inquiry will resume this week with evidence from Post Office investigator.

 

and we've already recently in these threads referred the changes in 'professional requirements/liability' this is bit on about (re crony mone/PPEMedpro lawyers i think)

"speaking over the weekend to Times Radio, Hartley said that while lawyers for the Post Office involved in prosecutions over the years might not face criminal prosecutions, they could be subject to regulatory action. He suggested future investigations should assess the ‘culpability and accountability’ of lawyers under professional conduct rules."

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The Tory Legacy

Record high: Taxes, Immigration, Excrement in waterways, energy company/crony profits

Crumbling: Hospitals, Schools, council services, businesses and roads

 

If only the Govt had thrown a protective ring around care homes

with the same gusto they do around their crooked MPs

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This is well worth a read. Includes detail that UK news services .. haven't

 

WWW.COMPUTERWEEKLY.COM

Computer Weekly has investigated the Post Office Horizon scandal since 2008 and is, in fact, part of the story. This guide covers essential...

 

The Tory Legacy

Record high: Taxes, Immigration, Excrement in waterways, energy company/crony profits

Crumbling: Hospitals, Schools, council services, businesses and roads

 

If only the Govt had thrown a protective ring around care homes

with the same gusto they do around their crooked MPs

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clear your cookies and local storage for site and it should allow you 1.

I used to subscribe but that was many many years ago on an entirely different computer

The Tory Legacy

Record high: Taxes, Immigration, Excrement in waterways, energy company/crony profits

Crumbling: Hospitals, Schools, council services, businesses and roads

 

If only the Govt had thrown a protective ring around care homes

with the same gusto they do around their crooked MPs

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or from these links?

DUCKDUCKGO.COM

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

 

Edited by tobyjugg2

The Tory Legacy

Record high: Taxes, Immigration, Excrement in waterways, energy company/crony profits

Crumbling: Hospitals, Schools, council services, businesses and roads

 

If only the Govt had thrown a protective ring around care homes

with the same gusto they do around their crooked MPs

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I see the press has tracked down Gareth Jenkins who has refused to comment. He is the architect of the Horizon computer system. He'll easily be the most significant witness when he finally shows up at the inquiry. He's currently under criminal investigation for perjury in numerous prosecutions and has twice unsuccessfully asked Wyn Williams for criminal immunity when it comes to giving his evidence. He has a defence barrister permanently stationed at the inquiry.

 In 2013 PO commissioned legal advice from an external senior barrister Simon Clarke KC on Jenkins' role as Fujitsu's expert witness in support of PO prosecutions. He concluded that, in colloquial terms, Jenkins had been lying to the courts through his teeth in saying that Horizon was robust when he knew it wasn't and PO should stop using him in cases and that past convictions might be unsafe. As the barrister concludes, this information and advice itself should have been disclosed in all past, current and concluded cases but PO sat on it until it was obtained and disclosed by the sub postmasters legal team in the GLO in 2019. 

Read the advice, especially the conclusions on the last two pages. 

This is, in a nutshell, what went wrong.

136028107_1_redacted.pdf (postofficescandal.uk)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Good spot, CJ. Thank you.

Paula Vennells is being defended by the bishop of St Albans. He seems to have misunderstood the fundamental difference between Mr Bates vs the Post Office and The Crown.

WWW.LBC.CO.UK

Paula Vennells should not be judged on the TV dramatisation of the Horizon scandal as it's 'a bit like The Crown', her church has said.

 

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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SPMs who took part in the pilot scheme are said to have been prosecuted.

WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM

Exclusive: software believed to have resulted in prosecutions even before full system rollout in 1999

 

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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Here's Gareth Jenkins that @cjcregg referred to earlier today, in the Times. Also Anne Chambers and the Met investigation into both of them.

An investigation involving colleagues Gareth Jenkins, 71, and Anne Chambers, 66, was opened after a judge said that defects and bugs in the system that they knew about were “kept secret”.

https://archive.is/o4dFR

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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Yes Ann Chambers has already appeared at the inquiry but Gareth Jenkins had his 4 day session postponed (twice I think) due PO late disclosure and this is after Wyn Williams refused Jenkins to appeal to the Attorney General for criminal immunity.

WWW.POSTOFFICEHORIZONINQUIRY.ORG.UK

Chair responds to request to review previous refusal 24 October 2023

 

 

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Some of the press are focussing on Fujitsu/Horizon today.

Adam Crozier has distance himself from Horizon, saying he had nothing to do with it when he was head of Royal Mail, although he was there from 2003 to 2010. POCL wasn't split off until 2012. Hmm.

I hadn't realised that Michael Keegan, husband of the current education minister, was CEO of Fujitsu between 2014 and 2018.

 

 

 

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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So it's just £75k for the GLO 555. Utterly staggering.

Another issue that's unresolved is the question of compensation payments to bankrupted sub postmasters going to their estates.

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So it's £75k full stop?? I'd be fuming too.

Ministers only seem to look at the overall cost and not think about what it means to the individual.

I can see another petition coming on about the compensation.

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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It's £75k full stop but those who think they should get more 'can apply to have their case looked at' - which will just be more lengthy bureaucracy. He reckons only a third of the 555 will want more!

Obviously Alan Bates is one of the 555.

 

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Thank you. I fear they still think of postmasters as the little people who'll be bought off easily.

This isn't the petition I was thinking of but there are some new ones saying Alan Bates should get a knighthood. I do hope they've asked him if he wants one.

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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