Gladstones court case

shawshearer

Evening, Im being taken to court and have trawled through the forums rading the various threads. Basically I've parked in an area near to a car park monitored by Minster Baywatch, I've parked on a road yet have been issued a penalty charge for a different location which I disputed immediately as as I wasnt parked where they said I had. Gladstones response was it is still land managed by them which I dispute.

Ultimately Im now at point of filing my defence (due 28/8) which is fraught with risk as it will be the severe lack of signs and no lighting (I was parked in hours of darkness).

I've lookd through defences and am compiling one regarding the lack of clear signage, I've done photos and a video at night which shows the area to have no lighting and no sns illuminated.

any help / guidance much apreciated

The_Deep

Gladstones response was it is still land managed by them

That should have the judge in giggles. They have not addressed your query, complain to their regulator here

https://www.sra.org.uk/

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams so consider complaining to your MP.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

Redx

Post the issue date from the top right of the claim form

Email a SAR to the DPO at the PPC to obtain all the documents and pictures and data about you and your vehicle attaching a copy of the claim form as proof of ID under the GDPR

shawshearer

Thanks, I will submit the SAR this evening.

I can show that where I was parked I have not passed any signs at point of entry and Gladstones evidence bundle shows their boundaries which I was parked outside of, I did get some land register docs regarding ownership of the road I was on, the register docs are incredibly difficult to understand but it appears that the owner is the local authority however they have a lease with a company that have sub contracted the parking out to Minster Baywatch.

In my initial response I was probably too cocky and told them I was driving and it is my vehicle but I wasn’t on their land so I wasn’t paying, 9 months later I’m being taken to court!

KeithP

Redx wrote: »

Post the issue date from the top right of the claim form.

As well as the answer to Redx's question, can you please tell us if the Claim Form came from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton, or from somewhere else?

shawshearer

Now burning the midight oil, the issue date was 9/4/19 from the county court business centre, I did return a very brief defence on 17/4/19 outlining that I was parked in an area that the claimant does not have juristiction to issue parking charge notices.

The case has now been allocated to my local county court and I have a Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track dated 27/7/19. The order states that I have to submit copies of all documnets to the court and other party by 28/8/19, so couldn't sleep so attempting to draft my statement.

shawshearer

first draft of statement for comment and guidance

IN THE COUNTY COURT

CLAIM No.
BETWEEN:
(Claimant)
and
(Defendant)
WITNESS STATEMENT

1. I am XXXX and I am the defendant in he this matter and will state as follows;

2. I am the owner of vehicle, registration xxxxxx.

3. On xxxx I was working a day shift and drove onto xxxxx after turning off xxxxx at approximately 0630 hrs, due to the time of year it was still dark.

4. I was looking for somewhere to park, xxxxx Street has yellow lines on both sides of the road, I have noticed a road on the left that led towards the medical practice and the rear of xxxxxx. I have observed a number of cars already parked in the area.

5. I have looked around the junction and no signs were visible indicating the name of the street nor any signs indicating the area to be private land, the road was made of exactly the same composition of tarmac as xxxxxx Street leading me to have the honestly held belief that the road was publicly maintained by the local authority.

6. I would like to produce evidence bundle xx/1.

7. I have drove beyond the junction of xxxx Street facing south and reversed my vehicle onto the road (Exhibit 1), I have reversed in a straight line for approximately 40-50 metres and then parked my vehicle next to large concrete kerb which was located next to the front passenger side door (Exhibit 2). I have checked the kerb area to ensure the parked vehicle is not obstructing any pedestrian access, which it wasnt (Exhibit 3).

8. I have observed no street lighting in the area with the area being very dark, and no signs illuminated. I observe a number of other parked vehicles in the area, none with any obvious damage and with the medical centre a matter of metres away I was confident that although the area is dark and poorly lit, there would be sufficent footfall within the area to ensure my vehicle will be safe and secure.

9. I have then walked away from my vehicle in the direction that I had entered the area, walking onto xxxx Street and turning right.

10. I have finished work in the early evening at approximately 1730 hours again due to the time of year darkness has descended, I have returned to my vehicle via the same route I had taken when walking away from my vehicle in the morning, again the area is very dark due to lack street lighting and no illuminated signs. I refer to exhibits 4,5 and 6 which show the area in the hours of darkness.

11. The claimant is a member of the British Parking Assoiation (BPA), company registration number xxxxxxxx. Under the BPA's code of practice (Exhibit 7) signage at the entry point to the site must be clearly visible, well lit and illuminated, no signage exists (Exhibit 1) at the entry point off xxxx Street.

12. As no signage exists at the point of entry then I am incapable of entering into a contract due to being unaware of the terms and conditions of parking in the area. The terms of the claimants signage are not illuminated in anyway and the area has no street lighting to enable a reasonable person of being made aware of the terms and conditions of parking on the site.

13. I would like to refer to Exhibit 8 Land Registry title GMxxxx. The grid plan xxxxx is quite clear in that the area shaded xxxxx is owned and maintined by the local authority xxxxxxx, futhermore the lease for xxxx under Land Registry title number xxxxx (Exhibit 9) does not include the area shaded xxxxx and is therefore not under the claimants management or control. The claimant is put to strict proof that it has sufficient proprietory interest in the land, or that it has the necessary authorisation from the landowner to issue parking charge notices, and to pursue payment by means of litigation.

14. The protection of Freedoms act 2012, schedule 4, at section 4 (5) states that the maximum sum that may be recovered from the keeper is the charge stated on the Notice to Keeper, in this case 100. The claim incluudes an addditional 60, for which no calculation or explanation is given, and which appears to be an attempt at double recovery, this is a abuse of process as per District Judge Taylor, claim number F0DP201T at Southampton Court 10th June 2019.

15 My position is that the claim discloses no cause of action, is without merit and has no real prospect of success. Accordingly, the court is invited strike out the claim of its own intiative, using its case mangement powers pursant to CPR 3.4.

16. I believe the facts stated in this statement are true.

xxxxxxxxx
xx/xx/xx

beamerguy

POST # 14 above

You need to expand on this Abuse of Process

Add the following which was written by coupon-mad

- Judges have disallowed all added parking firm 'costs' in County courts up and down the Country. In Claim number F0DP201T on 10th June 2019, District Judge Taylor sitting at the County Court at Southampton, echoed an earlier General Judgment or Order of DJ Grand, who on 21st February 2019 sitting at the Newport (IOW) County Court, had struck out a parking firm claim. One was a BPA member serial Claimant (Britannia, using BW Legal's robo-claim model) and one an IPC member serial Claimant (UKCPM, using Gladstones' robo-claim model) yet the Order was identical in striking out both claims without a hearing:

''The judges said .. IT IS ORDERED THAT The claim is struck out as an abuse of process. The claim contains a substantial charge additional to the parking charge which it is alleged the Defendant contracted to pay. This additional charge is not recoverable under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4 nor with reference to the judgment in ParkingEye v Beavis. It is an abuse of process from the Claimant to issue a knowingly inflated claim for an additional sum which it is not entitled to recover. This order has been made by the court of its own initiative without a hearing pursuant to CPR Rule 3.3(4) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998...''

shawshearer

Thanks Beamerguy I will add that text into my statement, Looking through their evidence bundle there are some glaring errors, wrong time date and place being the most obvious

Coupon-mad

You need to add this somewhere into that WS:

I've parked on a road yet have been issued a penalty charge for a different location which I disputed immediately as as I wasnt parked where they said I had.