Author Topic: Police 'helped bailiffs seize disabled motorist's £15k car to pay £60 fine  (Read 2042 times)

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Offline The Bald Eagle

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I'm not sure I would ever like to meet this lady as she doesn't come across as being the likeable type, but I am sure that she was the subject of an unlawful intervention by police à la the Met Police CUBO operations with bailiffs in attendance that we put a stop to.

Dragged out of the car for her own safety FFS!!!!! <Swearyangry>

Don't piss on my shoes and tell me it's raining. <Monkey>

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Police 'helped bailiffs seize disabled motorist's £15k car to pay £60 bus lane fine'

Blue Badge holder Cherry Clarke claims her Toyota Yaris was seized illegally in 6.30am swoop



A disabled driver claims police and council bailiffs may have broken the law by seizing her £15,000 car after accusing her of not paying a £60 bus lane fine.

Blue Badge holder Cherry Clarke says she was physically removed from her Toyota Yaris by an officer before it was towed away from her home in Walsall Road, Perry Barr.

She has now been told she has days to pay the fine, which has risen to £93, or her car - her only means of transport - will be sold to pay the debt.

Birmingham City Council claims it sent numerous letters to her address and that no Blue Badge was on display when the Toyota was taken.

But Mrs Clarke disputes the claims and has accused bailiffs and police of breaching the Taking Control of Goods Act 2013 - which exempts disabled people from having their vehicles seized.

The astonishing drama began last Tuesday when the car was clamped by council-appointed bailiffs, who stated she had not paid a driving fine from July.

Cherry, who suffers with chronic back pain and blood clots, initially managed to get the clamp removed after making a complaint to her local neighbourhood council office, insisting she had received no letters about the fixed penalty.

But at 6.30am on the Thursday bailiffs from the private company returned to her home and seized her three-year-old car, which was parked on her driveway and which she uses for regular hospital visits.

And when distraught Cherry protested by sitting in her life-line vehicle, police were called. She said: “I told the bailiffs I was disabled, I said I had a Blue Badge and needed my vehicle to get around, my husband told them too.

“The badge was on display - I showed them the badge. But they said they weren’t interested in the badge, it made no difference.

“I had received no letters from the council about this fine.

“But three police officers turned up and said the bailiffs had a right to take the car away.”


Cherry Clarke's car in bus lane

Cherry claims she was threatened with arrest before one female officer pulled her from the vehicle, which was then taken away by bailiffs.

Yet the Taking Control of Goods Act 2013 state an exemption from removal “is a vehicle on which a valid disabled person’s badge is displayed because it is used for, or in relation to which there are reasonable grounds for believing that it is used for, the carriage of a disabled person.”

And the Citizens Advice Bureau also states on its website that bailiffs can not seize, “a vehicle which is displaying a disabled blue badge and is used for transporting a disabled person.”

Cherry said: “I can’t understand how police made me give up my vehicle, I told them I was disabled. It is unacceptable that they pulled me out of my car. I was on private property and I had done nothing wrong.

“This was a civil matter the police should not have got involved. I feel bullied.”



Cherry is now making an official complaint to West Midlands Police and the council over her treatment and the potential unlawful seizure.

Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood has taken up her case.

He said: “I am very concerned that Mrs Clarke’s vehicle was taken from her own drive when it was known to the police and council bailiff present that she was a Blue Badge holder.

“The car is not registered as disabled in her name but then that does not always happen with people who have cars for disability use.

“Some cars are purchased in a different way and some people choose to use their allocation of funds differently.

“Whatever the circumstances which led to her not being able to pay a bus lane fine, it is absurd that the council have done this, assisted by West Midlands Police.

“Mrs Clarke has hospital appointments she needs to attend and the law is clear that she should not have had her car taken in this way because she is a Blue Badge holder.

“I’m also extremely concerned at the allegation made by Mrs Clarke that she was physically taken out of her car by a police officer.

“I’ve spoken to a senior person at the council who says as far as they are concerned they have followed procedure and the matter’s closed.

“I will continue to do all I can to ensure Mrs Clarke’s car is not sold and is returned to her. I will also be following up her allegation that she was pulled from the car by a police officer.”

A Birmingham City Council spokesman said: “There was no badge left on display in the vehicle when bailiffs visited the address on 16 and 18 February 2016.

“In addition, when the bailiff company undertook checks of the vehicle with DVLA (also undertaken by the police) the checks did not confirm the vehicle as being:a) Registered as a disabled vehicle; b) Owned and leased from Motability Finance; and c) Eligible for the Disabled Road Tax Exemption.

“Seven letters have been sent to Mrs Clarke, as the registered keeper of the vehicle, since 15 July 2015 - none of which have received replies.

“Bailiffs delivered the last letter, advising of enforcement action if the fine and charges were not paid, on 15 February 2016.”

The council refused to answer questions about whether or not it had breached the Taking of Goods Act 2013.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “The woman was removed from the vehicle for her own safety.

“I would like to draw your attention to Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Court and Enforcement Act 2007 − Section 68(1) − ‘A person is guilty of an offence if he intentionally obstructs a person lawfully acting as an enforcement agent.’

“The woman was not arrested.”

The force also ignored questions about whether its officers had also breached the Taking Control of Goods Act 2013.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/police-helped-bailiffs-seize-disabled-10973357
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Offline scalyback

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"You can't get out of the car madam? Let us pull you out.
Now, can you walk back to the house if I stop supporting you, or would you prefer to slide down my leg?"

 


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