can i make a claim for criminal defence cost in the small claims court?

Figaro2016

Hi
I would appreciate some advice in relation to small claims court. I will try to give a brief summary first:
I was in a 2-year relationship, my partner and I had recently moved in together early this year after I gave up the keys on my flat and moved into hers - we had not got around to registering everything as we were looking for a bigger place anyway. I sometimes worked away and one evening came home as a surprise to take her out for dinner. Well she'd already cooked but seemed a bit put out to see me, Long and short of it she suddenly got irate over dinner, ended up ordering me to leave and shouting at me, ran out of apartment and called a neighbour who then called the police rather than get involved himself as I thought at the time. The police came and while they were sympathetic to me I was booted out into the cold night with no explanation. On their advice I waited a few days for my partner to calm down about what ever had upset her then attempted to contact her - I was effectively homeless throughout this time, Naturally, I attempted to call her to find out what was going on and sent a few benign conciliatory messages and an email 'Are you OK? What happened? Can we talk?' that sort of thing. Finally, after a couple of weeks I went back to the property and buzzed the intercom - at this point I assumed the relationship was over although I still had no idea what had happened but wanted my possessions back. I then found myself arrested and charged with non-violent harassment - I had had no contact / explanation from my partner since the neighbour had called the police. Of course, I tried to explain all this to the police but they were hostile in the extreme - I was already the 'villain' and she was the 'victim'. You may be struggling to believe the above - particularly if you never had any involvement with the criminal justice system, it was my first - but what I have written is accurate. So I found myself charged with harassment on the basis of the above and I was fed into the machine of the criminal justice system. The next 6 months of my life were hell as I had this hanging over my head - a criminal conviction would have ended career and I never had an explanation from anyone about why this was happening. The truth of the matter came to light in the court when it was eventually thrown out of court - that night when I had returned home, I had walked into a romantic liaison - the neighbour in the block who called the police was actually coming to dinner with my partner and I'd walked straight into it, they then decided to launch into a relationship and my ex just 'switched off' our relationship that evening in an instant without ever bothering to tell me, but she used the police and criminal justice system to do so. It cost me nearly £20K to have a decent lawyer stand up in the court and speak on my behalf - despite the ridiculous nature of the whole situation which never should have gone to court in the first place - yes a wake up call the CPS are not all passionate seekers after the truth one might hope them to be - despite that, I have no doubt from what I could see of the system that if I had not had representation I would have been in a very vulnerable position in court. Oh by the way - in case anyone missed this in the media, there is no legal aid in court unless you are already destitute - you have to pay for it yourself and guess what even if you are completely cleared, you dont get the money back - yes that's our justice system! Anyway, as I say this all came out in the courts and my partner was exposed for telling lies and being malicious (seems she'd told the other chap a pack of very unflattering lies about me at the start of their relationship which overlapped with ours and could then not get out of the web of deceit) - I was exonerated completely but as I can see nobody is proposing to investigate the matter further or take action against my ex-partner and her new partner for telling lies, unnecessarily wasting police and court time or causing untold distress to me. And, finally of course I have never been re-united with all my property which was in our home at the time in question.
So my question is this: Can I take out a claim against my ex in the small claims court for the cost of my legal defence and lost property up to £10K and what would my chances of success be?

LilElvis

Ask your solicitor - random strangers don't know the full facts of your case. Does your former partner even have that sort of money?

Person_one

An accusation was made and you were charged with something, there was enough evidence that the CPS believed a prosecution had a good chance of resulting in a conviction and was in the public interest, but when it went to court you were cleared of the charges and are now free and getting on with your life.

I think that's kind of how the justice system is supposed to work, isn't it? The only problem in the story is the fact that legal aid has been cut to the bone, but that's something you need to take up with your MP, or look at how you vote in future, you didn't vote Tory I take it? If you did you have no grounds for complaint.

I have no idea if you can make a small claims court, as the previous poster said, you'd need to ask a solicitor about that.

Proxima_Centauri

Would you mind if I put a few paragraphs in, so it's easier to read?

Figaro2016 wrote: »

Hi
I would appreciate some advice in relation to small claims court. I will try to give a brief summary first:
I was in a 2-year relationship, my partner and I had recently moved in together early this year after I gave up the keys on my flat and moved into hers - we had not got around to registering everything as we were looking for a bigger place anyway. I sometimes worked away and one evening came home as a surprise to take her out for dinner.

Well she'd already cooked but seemed a bit put out to see me, Long and short of it she suddenly got irate over dinner, ended up ordering me to leave and shouting at me, ran out of apartment and called a neighbour who then called the police rather than get involved himself as I thought at the time. The police came and while they were sympathetic to me I was booted out into the cold night with no explanation. On their advice I waited a few days for my partner to calm down about what ever had upset her then attempted to contact her - I was effectively homeless throughout this time,

Naturally, I attempted to call her to find out what was going on and sent a few benign conciliatory messages and an email 'Are you OK? What happened? Can we talk?' that sort of thing. Finally, after a couple of weeks I went back to the property and buzzed the intercom - at this point I assumed the relationship was over although I still had no idea what had happened but wanted my possessions back. I then found myself arrested and charged with non-violent harassment - I had had no contact / explanation from my partner since the neighbour had called the police.

Of course, I tried to explain all this to the police but they were hostile in the extreme - I was already the 'villain' and she was the 'victim'.

You may be struggling to believe the above - particularly if you never had any involvement with the criminal justice system, it was my first - but what I have written is accurate. So I found myself charged with harassment on the basis of the above and I was fed into the machine of the criminal justice system. The next 6 months of my life were hell as I had this hanging over my head - a criminal conviction would have ended career and I never had an explanation from anyone about why this was happening.

The truth of the matter came to light in the court when it was eventually thrown out of court - that night when I had returned home, I had walked into a romantic liaison - the neighbour in the block who called the police was actually coming to dinner with my partner and I'd walked straight into it, they then decided to launch into a relationship and my ex just 'switched off' our relationship that evening in an instant without ever bothering to tell me, but she used the police and criminal justice system to do so.

It cost me nearly £20K to have a decent lawyer stand up in the court and speak on my behalf - despite the ridiculous nature of the whole situation which never should have gone to court in the first place - yes a wake up call the CPS are not all passionate seekers after the truth one might hope them to be - despite that, I have no doubt from what I could see of the system that if I had not had representation I would have been in a very vulnerable position in court. Oh by the way - in case anyone missed this in the media, there is no legal aid in court unless you are already destitute - you have to pay for it yourself and guess what even if you are completely cleared, you dont get the money back - yes that's our justice system!

Anyway, as I say this all came out in the courts and my partner was exposed for telling lies and being malicious (seems she'd told the other chap a pack of very unflattering lies about me at the start of their relationship which overlapped with ours and could then not get out of the web of deceit) - I was exonerated completely but as I can see nobody is proposing to investigate the matter further or take action against my ex-partner and her new partner for telling lies, unnecessarily wasting police and court time or causing untold distress to me. And, finally of course I have never been re-united with all my property which was in our home at the time in question.


So my question is this: Can I take out a claim against my ex in the small claims court for the cost of my legal defence and lost property up to £10K and what would my chances of success be?

I would think you could sue her for defamation of character, and the Police should be pursuing her and the man for wasting Police time, but they may be unwilling to do so. They tend to tread on eggshells where cases of harassment against the woman are concerned, even when, as in your case, it was a pack of lies.

richardw

You generally need to do more thorough general research on this subject.
Read the official general advice on the court service websites.
You may need an informal friend who can be a bit objective and stop you going off down the wrong road.


Consider financial recompense from the police and CPS, there is a lot of basic stupidity and unreasonableness within both.

Figaro2016

Yes, I take the point and the summary you have given of the process all sounds very reassuring doesnt it? That is if you naively believe that the people making such assessments about evidence are equipped to make such judgments. I hope you never find yourself up against the criminal justice system.

I would simply ask - have you ever sent a message like this to someone 'Hey, how are you? Are you OK? I'm worried about you - can you give me a call when you have a minute?' or something like that...My guess is that you have at some time to someone. If the person you sent it to then contacted the police (not you mind the police) and told them this message was unwanted and distressing (even though you had been in a relationship for 2 years which had never been ended) and this communication and a few others similar formed the basis of a prosecution,,,,Tell me what is the evidence you would be referring it to exactly? I dont think there's any dispute that there is nothing inherently improper or unusual about such a communication - so it all comes down to what the complainant says about the internal effect within her own mind that the communication had.

Do you really believe the CPS / Police are equipped to assess that or even willing to do so or do you think it likely that nobody wants that on their desk so off it gets escalated up the chain until somebody high up enough has the balls to deploy common sense....

pphillips

Your solicitor should have applied for a Defendant's Costs Order when you were acquitted, ask him why he didn't do this, your solicitor would possibly have been acting negligently in failing to do so.
You could sue your ex for the value of your property, but write to her first to ask for it be returned.
Have you made a complaint to the police or CPS?

Figaro2016

thanks for your reply...The word 'sue' gets used a lot in common speak, but what does it actually mean in UK law? I have sought as much free advice as possible on this matter but frankly there is no agency to represent people in the position I am now in. I am not without means but having just spent a small fortune to have someone stand up and point out common sense on my behalf, I am not in a rush to throw away more money...I have been advised that really the only thing I can do without incurring huge additional expense is:
1. lodge a complaint to the police about how the matter was handled
2. lodge a claim in small claims court for the expenses I have incurred and the property i have lost

Figaro2016

Yes my sols did that the money you get back is a fraction. Re writing to her to ask for it back....perhaps you didnt understand - I already did that in a very conciliatory and polite manner and it was used as the basis of a prosecution against me because she claimed that communication was 'unwanted'

Person_one

Figaro2016 wrote: »

Yes, I take the point and the summary you have given of the process all sounds very reassuring doesnt it? That is if you naively believe that the people making such assessments about evidence are equipped to make such judgments. I hope you never find yourself up against the criminal justice system.

I would simply ask - have you ever sent a message like this to someone 'Hey, how are you? Are you OK? I'm worried about you - can you give me a call when you have a minute?' or something like that...My guess is that you have at some time to someone. If the person you sent it to then contacted the police (not you mind the police) and told them this message was unwanted and distressing (even though you had been in a relationship for 2 years which had never been ended) and this communication and a few others similar formed the basis of a prosecution,,,,Tell me what is the evidence you would be referring it to exactly? I dont think there's any dispute that there is nothing inherently improper or unusual about such a communication - so it all comes down to what the complainant says about the internal effect within her own mind that the communication had.

Do you really believe the CPS / Police are equipped to assess that or even willing to do so or do you think it likely that nobody wants that on their desk so off it gets escalated up the chain until somebody high up enough has the balls to deploy common sense....

I don't know what the evidence was, I only know what you've posted, but I know that the CPS don't bring prosecutions to court because they've nothing better to do or they just don't like someone.

If what you are saying is true then the system worked, you were innocent so you weren't convicted.

Note that you didn't answer my question about who you voted for at the last election. :cool:

pphillips

The word sue simply means to take someone to court for something but a court normally expects you to try and resolve the matter yourself first and turn to them as a last resort.