Blackmailing ex partner wants my house or else

breaking_free

Gingernutty wrote: »

There are a whole series of conditions under which the CICA awards compensation.

The character of the victim, previous criminal convictions, whether the victims' behaviour contributed to the injuries, whether the victim is facing criminal charges as a result of the incident are all taken into account.

How did the husband get so much compo? Why wasn't his provoking behaviour taken account of? Why did he get a bunch of ambulance chasers involved?

You should tell the police about this as CICA can claim the money back from victims if there are extenuating circumstances.

You need to take proper advice from a solicitor, preferably one with criminal law experience.

Why did he get so much compo? Because absolutely no extenuating circumstances, such as his provoking behaviour or his character, were presented I guess. Had anybody asked me I'd have told them about the hell he put me through.

Why did he get the ambulance chasers involved? He must have figured he'd get a better payout that way (and because this is a man that is not good at writing/spelling, so he was much better off getting someone else to fill out the forms).

I'm not going to open up a can of worms by asking the police to look into the CICA payout - I'm trying to distance myself from the ex. The only reason I even entertained the idea of pursuing a blackmail case against him was to make him scared of the repercussions so he might back off from contacting me.

He's broken the restraining order by contacting me so the police will arrest him when he returns to the UK. I'm satisfied with that.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Wow. Not that I'm excusing any behaviour here, but he must have had seven bells kicked out of him for that level of compensation.

Anyhow, the point of my posting is that, whatever way you look at it, whether the beating was with provocation or not, you paying him a single penny would not stop him from taking it and then deciding to go after your father for compensation, saying your payment was part of the separation/his share of the property and nothing to do with the assault.

If he's as bad as you say (and I'm not doubting you here), why on earth would he stop if you agreed to his demands? It seems obvious to me that he'd go on with action regardless. And if he was a purely innocent victim of a nasty father (which I'm sure would be his version), surely he'd go on with action regardless after getting a share of the horrid ex's housing portfolio?


Either way, he will do what he'll do. Nothing you could do would stop him, so by all means get on with the divorce, keep recording his contacts and breaches of the non molestation order, don't pay him a penny and deal with whatever he does next when it happens.

And get another mobile so his contacts all go to the number you have now, but they aren't cluttering up your day to day phone. If nothing else because the phone might be needed as evidence somewhere along the line.

InA

breaking_free wrote: »

My ex has convinced himself that he can take a civil case against my dad and take his overseas house off him.

Question: My ex has made multiple blackmail threats which I have recorded. Am I able to pursue any kind of case against him when he is in the Republic of Ireland?

1. If you need accurate legal advice, you can't obtain that from a forum, especially based on sparse information that may or may not present all the factors / arguments that could be made by the other side.

2. Your ex sounds like a chancer.

3. You don't need to "pursue" a case! You can report the blackmail to the police, who will either investigate (or most likely brush you off saying it's a domestic issue) and refer to the CPS if the investigation yields enough evidence to secure a conviction for a crime. Any private prosecution would likely cost you more than your house is worth (literally).

4. Irish law may have differences. However, generally speaking, IF your ex brings a civil case, the burden of proof is on him! He would need to prove the extent of his injuries and also prove his "losses" (i.e. the amount of compensation claimed) were a result of that injury.

He is also seriously overestimating compensation for "scarring" which presumably is just a cosmetic issue, and he may well face costs if he brings a hopeless case. If it gets that far, you can also cast doubt on his credibility with the evidence of blackmail.

I would urge caution in all legal matters as it usually is not about the truth and justice as most people seem to believe. It is about a dry interpretation of the law and how lawyers present / or misrepresent evidence in court. Your recorded blackmail evidence may have a different spin put on it and you'll find there's ambiguity everywhere when you begin to look for it.

InA

breaking_free wrote: »

Oh but he has! Last year he emailed me a photo of a solicitor's letter showing the release of the first tranche in the amount of £68,400, paid by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. Goodness knows how much more he received if the first part of the payout was that high.

EDIT: Looking over past emails he was claiming that he would receive £85,000 in total, but I only saw a photo of the first letter, not subsequent ones. I'll assume he did receive the full £85,000.

I only read the first post before posting my first reply, but then saw a mention of compensation and waded back through the thread.

The above is good evidence regarding his financial assets when it comes to the financial settlement for the divorce.

Guest101

InA wrote: »

I only read the first post before posting my first reply, but then saw a mention of compensation and waded back through the thread.

The above is good evidence regarding his financial assets when it comes to the settlement.

There's a chance that the compensation will be excluded from the marital assets pool, given the relationships involved

MothballsWallet

hazyjo wrote: »

How is he contacting you, and why are you still talking to him?! Put the phone down. Are there kids involved?


How long were you together before marrying (and did you live together beforehand)?


Not sure you can use recorded material if they didn't know they were being recorded - expect that changes along with circumstance, so you'd need to take legal advice.


Jx

IIRC from a MSE thread, you can use the recording to make a transcript which can be requested to be included in evidence for a court case, but that's at the judge's discretion.

breaking_free

Hi again all. I didn't think I'd be back so soon asking for more advice.

My estate agent in Ireland emailed me yesterday to say that my tenants have given notice as they are moving closer to where they work. The tenants are leaving next month so I'm going to put the house up for sale immediately after that. I think this couldn't come at a better time!

Now here's what I'm worried about. There is every chance that the ex will find out that the house is on the market. It is very rural and well back from the road - nobody can see it unless they are going right past the gates; there are few neighbours. One of the ex's favourite threats is that he would burn the place down and he really is stupid and vindictive enough to do it (yes I know you're all going to say "But if he burns it down he can't get any money out of it" - that's why I also mentioned how stupid he is).

The ex lives a long distance away from the house and doesn't have a car; he can only get there if someone lends him a car or drives him there. This gives me a modicum of protection as it's not easy for him to get to it. Nonetheless, when he has had a skinful he will do every kind of malicious and stupid thing (driving drunk is a favourite pastime).

I hesitate to inform my Irish insurance company that 'My ex might deliberately damage the property'. I doubt it is covered for intentional damage (haven't checked the policy yet but will do). I don't know about informing the Irish Gardai either as no crime has yet been committed.

I am seeing a UK police officer next week to hand over evidence of the most recent phone calls, all of which I've ignored, so I'll ask for advice then. Meantime, does anybody have ideas what I can do? It will be another month till the house is empty so it's safe till then.

LilElvis

When you put the house on the market instruct the estate agent not to put a "For Sale" sign outside - if it's location is isolated then a sign is unlikely to attract interested buyers anyway. Also tell them not to advertise the sale in the local newspapers. Unless your ex likes to visit estate agents for fun he would therefore be unlikely to find out that the house is for sale.

hazyjo

Was about to say the same as LilElvis. Problem solved.


I wouldn't inform the insurance company - the police would be arresting people left right and centre if they could be charged with something they were likely (even guaranteed!) to do. They have to wait until they do it. If he directly says to you that he's going to burn the house down tomorrow, go to the police, not the insurers (that's my view anyway - someone else may choose to disagree). If insurers can find an excuse not to pay, they'll use it.


Jx

Guest101

MothballsWallet wrote: »

IIRC from a MSE thread, you can use the recording to make a transcript which can be requested to be included in evidence for a court case, but that's at the judge's discretion.

Correct - all evidence is at judges discretion.