Ignorance of the law excuses no-one
Hello everyone, Mr Mustard, or in actual fact Mustafa, needs your help in the form of a donation to legal costs.
Mustafa is a polite and calm man in his twenties. He is studying and was doing some part time taxi driving work when he hit a problem, the bailiff illegally removed his car aided and abetted, in effect, by the police.
On 15 July 2016 Mustafa purchased a car for £2,700. He paid cash but received a comprehensive Car Sales Agreement, an A4 piece of paper containing the details of the vehicle, the buyer & the seller and the price paid which is receipted.
On 22 July 2016 it was clamped. Mustafa sat inside and phoned the bailiff, probably expecting rather naively that he would show the bailiff his paperwork and the clamp would be removed. Not so fast Mustafa.
Needless to say the bailiff wasn't being reasonable and called the police to attend. The police should have been innocent independent bystanders as the collection of a PCN is a civil matter not a criminal one. The bailiff has no power to smash his way into premises (and premises by definition includes a car) but the police stood by and watched as he did this very thing, the committal of a criminal act.
Once the window was smashed in Mustafa was arrested and taken to Colindale police station. The outcome of his time there was that the police decided that they had no right to detain Mustafa and hence they can't have had any right to arrest him either. A complaint has just been filed with the Met Police.
Why the police let the bailiff smash a window in when they had already said to Mustafa "Yes you own the car" is a question that the investigation will have to answer. Mr Mustard can tell them the answer. It is that the police considered the warrant as being against the car but warrants are always against a person or company and it is their assets which can then be distrained upon (grabbed), the warrant is not attached to the car per se.
This is what the Citizens Advice Bureau has to say on this subject.
It isn't the case either that the previous owner sold the car to Mustafa in the full knowledge he had a warrant outstanding because the previous owner only bought on 21 June 2016. There are 5 former keepers going back to 2009.
The warrants, it turns out, are from January and April 2016 but they haven't been seen and Mustafa isn't entitled to see them as his name is not on them. Strange but true. Here is part of the police custody record
Mr Mustard sent the bailiff firm, Collect Services Ltd, a claim to the car on behalf of Mustafa along with the V5 and the Car Sales Agreement. He then also sent them proof of insurance. It took 14 days and a nudge from Mr Mustard for Collect Services Ltd to refuse Mustafa's claim to have his own car back (possession really is nine points of the law). The informal approach having failed, and it is always sensible to try to agree matters without court action, a Third Party Claim will have to be made in accordance with Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. The problem is that even if you win the day, and recover your car, you will not recover the costs of legal representation as these are not allowed for Small Claims (those under £10,000). It isn't sensible for a person to represent themselves in person if they want the best outcome and Mr Mustard isn't qualified to appear. A barrister is a wise investment. You can be sure that the bailiff will be supported by his firm who will have experienced legal representatives and they have deep pockets.
This is where you come in. Mr Mustard's solicitor is going to help out but there will be court fees to pay and a barrister to present the argument in Court.
£1,500 needs to be found and this is where you come in. Please send what you can afford to Mr Mustard's separate charitable purposes bank account:
Sort code: 16-00-38
Account number: 11395624
Account name: Mr Derek R Dishman
and use the reference 'Mustafa'.
Justice is hard to fund for the less well off especially when you have a student loan and your principal business asset has been forcibly removed from you. Please be generous.
Yours frugally
Mr Mustardhttp://lbbspending.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/mustafa.html
