theft and withholding possessions

anon888

don't know if i'm on the right page. If i'm not, can someone redirect me. Cheers. However, i need to ask: If someone has stolen from you, are you legally within your rights to withhold their possessions? I cant go into further detail but would like any help available. Cheers

[Deleted User]

No. .

CalumHeath

You're right: this isn't in the right place.

But to answer your question: no. If someone broke into your house you wouldn't get a free go at breaking into theirs.

That aside, you have to consider the likelihood and severity of the lengths the other person will go to to get their stuff back.

Get the police involved.

maninthestreet

Do you already have possession of this other person's possessions, and arerefusing to hand these over to them unless they return your possessions?

PasturesNew

I presume it's something like: I've got my friend's XBox ... and on Saturday night he came round and nicked £100 out of my wallet.

It's so much more exciting when we get to work out the story.

grumbler

anon888 wrote: »

don't know if i'm on the right page. If i'm not, can someone redirect me. Cheers. However, i need to ask: If someone has stolen from you, are you legally within your rights to withhold their possessions? I cant go into further detail but would like any help available. Cheers

If it really was 'stolen' you can ask police for help.
Or you can sue the 'someone'.
Or you can wait until this 'someone' sues you for 'their possessions' and use this opportunity to counter-claim your 'stolen' property.

chattychappy

There are a few situations where you can legally retain somebody else's property - google "lien". But it doesn't sound like it applies here.

With court approval you can do all sorts of things. High Court Enforcement Officers ("sherifs") can take or retain property in certain circumstances. Courts might grant injunctions to order the freezing of assets, though wouldn't normally allow a third party to simply "take" them.

If goods are the proceeds of crime, then they can be seized though not by you. The police have powers here to grab stuff until the situation is clear.

Land can get complicated. Somebody might "own" the freehold, but others might have an interest (eg a lease) and be entitled to occupy.

The general answer is "two wrongs don't make a right". So you can't take or retain somebody's property because they've stolen from you.

anon888

I would like to thank everyone for their very helpful reply. In truth i thought that was the case but it doesn't hurt to ask. I also feel that to do so would be morally petty and not at all worth it.But i was suffering from a sleepness night when i posted. Many thanks again

chattychappy

anon888 wrote: »

But i was suffering from a sleepness night when i posted. Many thanks again

I was suffering from a sleepness night when I replied!