ParkingEye (St Helens College) - County Court Claim Form

Quentin

salmosalaris wrote: »

it is often best to defend as the driver

That is not the point of my post you sparsley replied to.


The OP asked for comments on his defence! That defence identifies the driver in (2), thus his (7) is useless.


Others coming for a defence to copy could make the same mistake were it not pointed out!


(People do regularly inadvertently give away who was driving in their OPs, though fortunately that gets pointed out to them before any "damage" is done. Unfortunately this OP has asked for comments after the stable door is shut, and will now have to defend as the driver)

salmosalaris

I wasn't criticising your comment but simply pointing out that it often curries favour with a judge to admit driving and it makes explaining many defence points much easier . And in a PE case ( unless we are on non relevant land ) non compliance with POFA is unlikely to succeed anyway .
IMHO its all about appearing to be honourable and attempting to get off on a weak technicality may be counter-productive with certain judges .
In fact unless evidence can be produced to tip the balance judges may well rule that on the balance of probability the RK was also the driver so non compliance with POFA becomes irrelevant anyway

bargepole

kresnas wrote: »

This is the defence I submitted to the Court, if I have put in anything that's wrong or that's completely stupid, please tell me.

Virtually all of it.

You've obviously copied a very out of date template from somewhere, and hardly any of that is relevant any more.

This sort of thing is exactly why I don't agree with defences being posted on public forums. People blindly copy them without having a clue what they're doing, and just make a complete pig's ear of their defence. Then they wonder why they lose in court.

Coupon-mad

bargepole - not all of it! Yes, that's based on an old template (the entire point #4 is pointless) but it's better than some truly woeful and generic template defences that you and I have both seen posted on a forum.

We all know the reality - defences have to be posted openly here, to help the sheer number of people we do, plus assist others who read the threads later. I wish this OP had spent more time on it, not left it till the last gasp and had instead adapted the one I suggested because it was more recently written, pretty well argued and PE discontinued in those cases, but that can't be helped now!

If some of us didn't show defences in public here victims would have no way of knowing what to put at all. You have shown defences yourself, albeit with a caveat that people should not blindly copy them, quite rightly. But at least it shows people how to word and shape their defence points and gives them confidence not to just pay.

It is up to people to check the dates of what they are reading - not copy old examples from many months ago - and also not leave things to the last minute.

At least point #3 mentions Advertising consent and there are a few issues to build on in a witness statement. This OP also has good signage evidence of that ripped sign, now replaced (rare for a PE case) and a forbidding sign offering parking only to permit holders. And he/she has stated that he/she believed there was authorisation to park there when signing up/paying course fees. Colleges & Universities often relax rules when it's a signing-up, paying fees or moving in day so maybe this OP can get or has something from the college to assert that he/she was authorised to park.

Plenty of time yet. Worth defending rather than folding and some of that defence can be built upon, with that photo evidence of ripped/forbidding signs and 'no Advertising consent' evidence. I've seen lost causes and surely this isn't one, it's potentially rescuable at Witness Statement and exhibits stage as long as more time is spent on it.

@kresnas, as this proceeds through the stages (that you will know about already, from bargepole's own post about court procedures) please come back here having worked on your evidence well before the court deadline. Before your hearing, well before the deadline the court sets for your WS and evidence you intend to rely upon. Try to get an email from the College about the issue, supporting the fact that you were paying fees and authorised (any chance? Try!).