Legal Advice needed!

Mrsmch349

Hi Folks, I would appreciate it if any of you could help me with my rights? My son has just returned from school with a damaged jacket (£65 Superdry). One of the guys in his class (who is a complete pain in the proverbial) took his coat and put it on but then when the teacher asked him to return it to my son, he got the zip stuck and ripped the teeth out of it. I have sourced another one and have asked them to keep it for me until Sat. What I need help with is my rights regarding getting the other family to pay for a replacement.

I would really appreciate your help - my son saved up for this jacket and I can not afford to replace it

Thanks x

nomoneytoday

Can the zip not be fixed?

geri1965_2

I would ask the other child's parents to pay for a new zip. It's generally about 50p per inch.

BTW, and I don't mean to be harsh, if it's your son's jacket that he bought with his own money, why do you have to replace it? How old is your son?

ses6jwg

Hmmm... I think pursuing the parents of the other boy would only cause more problems for your son in the long run. There is a chance he could be bullied and teased by his classmates and if the other boy is his friend then it could jepordise this.

I would be chalking this up to experience, and either getting the coat repaired or just taking a common sense approach and not sending my son to school in an expensive piece of clothing!

Boys do enjoy a bit of rough and tumble (we used to play bulldogs charge), and my coats were usually from Matalan or Peacocks, usually costing less than £30 and easily replaced if ripped etc.

geri1965_2

Yes, but they weren't playing. This other child is responsible for the damage - he shouldn't have taken the coat and put it on.

If one of my friends broke something of mine, I would expect them to offer to pay for a repair or replacement. I may not necessarily accept it, but that's a different issue.

Anihilator

You would need to show neglience anyway. If the jacket simply broke in his posession then that isnt neglient.

If you think the taking of the jacket was illegal involve the police.

Tbh this is the problem with modern society.

DarkConvict

I would pursue the other parents for a replacement or suitable repair of the item, if the other kid put it on without permission and then damaged it, in school or not that is criminal damage. Whilst £65 is only a small thing and something i am sure the school can handle as it happened on school grounds with their pupils in school hours, feel free to report it to the police for advice.

He will more likely in my opinion get bullied more for not getting it sorted and paid for by the other kids parents.

Mrsmch349

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. My son is 14yrs old. He has saved for a designer label - it was taken during a lesson and the teacher witnessed the damage. The offender is a bully and is constantly in trouble - my son has enough confidence to cope with any bullying that might ensue.
With regards repairing it - you wouldn't be able to get the Superdry zip to match the others so I am not prepared to do that.
I work at the school and have to support a pupil in this boy's lesson tomorrow - joy!
Will see what the deputy head has to say about it tomorrow - I just wondered if I had any legal recourse (it's Scottish Law by the way!).

Thanks everyone - have a good Xmas! x

kivsy

Without trying to sound harsh, I too have a 14 year old son who has saved for a £100 Henleys jacket. It is a lovely jacket and as such he is not allowed to wear it to school. He wears a plain coat to school and henleys when he goes out. Boys do break things at school, always has been that way and always will be.

pinkshoes

Ahhh, another Superdry zip problem...

The problem with Superdry is that they incorporate lots of zips into their designs, but manufacture them with cheap rubbish zips that frequently break.

Perhaps you could use this issue to teach your son that expensive doesn't necessarily mean quality?

(or he could contact the head teacher and let them contact the parents...)