Residential parking - received a claim form

Drdr

So i went to court and it was all over very quickly indeed! the judge said that this case has gone off the rails at some point and should be set aside. He gave me the date i need to submit my witness statement by, and gave me advice on how to write it. He said my defence was largely "internet based" but the WS should be much more about what actually happened. The rep from SIP then asked for cost to be reserved, to which the judge just said no! He'd travelled from Manchester to Plymouth for a 10 minute hearing all for nothing!

So now I'm writing my witness statement, and gathering my evidence. I'll post back up here when i have a draft.

My question is, I've received the witness statement from SIP already along with all of their evidence such a signage and photos and screenshots of the "whitelist" that my vehicle was registered on, is it ok for me to use their evidence as my evidence? I honestly think the screenshots they've sent could be used against them. Can i also use their photos of their signage or do i need to go take my own?

thanks in advance

KeithP

It really is quite simple...

Use everything in their WS to your advantage.
I.e. point out their mistakes, lies, etc.

Use their photos if they help your case.

Take your own photos to reinforce your case.

Drdr

Update: COVID 19
Court case was due for 17th April, but received a letter form the court today saying the hearing has been vacated due to the pandemic. The letter then went on to say...
"Pursuant to the power to do so in CPR Part 27.4(1)(e), the court gives notice to the parties that it proposes to deal with the claim without a hearing."
Followed by
Any party may notify the court by email (a) if they agree to the proposal. (b) if they disagree to the proposal, stating their reasons, after which the judge will decide whether to determine the claim without a hearing and will notify the parties. 

It then goes on: 

Every party, whether represented or not, should liaise and try to agree the contents of a single hearing bundle with page numbers that should contain only: 
a) copies of the claim form, particulars of claim, defence and counterclaim and any reply
b)copies of the Directions Order and any other court order
c) Copies of any witness statement
d) copies of any documents disclosed in accordance with the directions order
e)copies of other documents 
f) Copies of expert reports

It then goes on to talk about Skype hearing etc. 

Basically I have 6 days to liaise with SIP (or Gladstones?) to come up with this bundle. I take it I also need to let them know any reasons why this has to be dealt with a hearing. Any ideas?

I'm a key worker on the front line in the NHS at this point in time and really am struggling to motivate myself for this. Especially taking the day off work to do the hearing. Any suggestions for quick and easy ways to sort this would be much appreciated. 

Thanks in advance!

Coupon-mad

Oh dear,  the last thing you want is for it to be heard on the papers.  But you were meant to put in a WS an evidence pre-hearing.  I assume you had no time to do this yet?

Reply quickly saying that you are a key worker on the front line in the NHS at this point in time, and yet you strongly DO NOT want the case to be heard on the papers, because you have had and will have (at the moment) no chance to put together any kind of witness statement and evidence bundle.  Thus you will be hugely disadvantaged, given the time and trouble you have already put into setting aside a mistake by the court. 

State that you need your case to be adjourned and heard in person after the pandemic, when you ask for time to submit the witness statement and evidence that you hope an NHS front line worker will be allowed sufficient fair time to put in, later in the year, to do justice to your case. 

State that:

My fight should get the hearing it deserves, when I plan to do it justice, and it relates to a large sum of money that I simply do not owe.  The claim goes way back to 2017, when more than one claim was issued regarding unfair PCNs in a residential car park.  Instead of advancing their whole case, the PCNs were split into two separate claims by SIP, the Claimant, and Gladstones, their robo-claim solicitors.   I defended both claims, received N180 DQ for claim 1, submitted it, and received a Notice of Discontinuance from Gladstones. I hoped claim 2 would go a similar way but was still waiting to receive my DQ paperwork. 

In 2019, a full 15 months after I submitted my defence, I logged into MCOL to find that the DQ was sent out to my old address (I have since moved house twice).  In good faith, I had been updating my address on MCOL but the court sent a DQ to the address used on my acknowlegement of service back in 2017.  To put this right, I went to huge lengths, bearing in mind this was by then a 2 year old claim.  I had a hearing in December and the Judge said that 'this case has gone off the rails' at some point and the erroneous Order should be set aside.

He gave me the date I need to submit my witness statement by but due to COVID 19 I simply cannot attend to that now, and if my case is now heard 'on the papers' then I will have no fair opportunity to challenge the huge bundle of irrelevant paperwork the Claimant sent in, including a mock-up "whitelist" of vehicles and undated photos of signs.    They discontinued one claim so I will be urging them to discontinue this one as well, under the circumstances, but I certainly do not want it heard this month without my full attention being able to be given to the papers.

Basically their evidence is full of holes and relates to more than one PCN, all of which are very challengeable in various facts and points of law, given I was a resident whose car was permitted and on the white list of exempt cars all along.  I need my day in court, please, and given this is a 2017 claim, another few months will make no difference to the Claimant - who has delayed the case from the outset - but will take a huge burden off my shoulders.

For the avoidance of doubt, my current address is as follows and is the only address at which I can be reached:
xx xxxx xxxx
xxxxx
xxxx

Finally, I am sending a copy of this to Gladstones, and I am suggesting a 'drop hands' agreement (both parties to walk away without costs being claimed) in the hope that they will agree with their client to recognise my NHS frontline keyworker status, consider the bigger picture and discontinue the claim after all this time, even if just to spare the court and myself further time and costs. 

Please adjourn this case until later in the year or until the Claimant discontinues. 

Your name/signature

Le_Kirk

Nice one (again) C-m

D_P_Dance

As so many "own space" cases try to interfere with your lawful right to "peaceful enjoyment" have you/can you consider a counter claim for harassment or trespass?  Read this

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/324523-ukpc-liable-for-trespass-success/

  t

nosferatu1001

DP - how can they counter claim? They're too late to do that. 
C-M - is it worth including proof of NHS status maybe? To add to the weight of whats been said?

D_P_Dance

DP - how can they counter claim? They're too late to do that. 

I did not say they could, I asked them if the could. 

nosferatu1001

Yes, but a few minutes reading this page alone would have told you that was impossible...

D_P_Dance

Nos, I hope that you are not suggesting that I read this stuff.  I show the OP the map, he/she plans the route