Help needed with county court claim defence for ParkingEye claim

AllOtherNamesAlreadyInUse

Another question please, I'm confident with the defence in terms of lack of clear signage, unclear terms of contract, misleading business practices etc, however the thing they might get me on is lack of proof of patronage at the pub. Unfortunately it looks like I paid cash, since there's no record on my Visa debit card. The only proof I can think of is that I saw a work colleague there (who I chatted with for a few minutes), I could ask him to write a statement saying that he saw me there. Do you think that would be sufficient in court to show reasonable grounds that I was a patron there?

Le_Kirk

Evidence comes later with witness statement.  Concentrate on your defence, which is a series of legal/technical arguments.

Coupon-mad

You'll know from reading the NEWBIES thread section under the red heading 'IMPORTANT - KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN' at what stage your own witness statement (and any others from other witnesses) are submitted with exhibits. 

Yes, in due course it would be a useful additional WS alongside your own.

AllOtherNamesAlreadyInUse

Le_Kirk said:

Evidence comes later with witness statement.  Concentrate on your defence, which is a series of legal/technical arguments.

I realise the actual supply of evidence comes later, but my defence includes "Defendant was an occupant of the car and can prove they were patrons of the pub", so I'm just checking whether a colleague's statement would consitute proof. Surely that's a reasonable question to ask?

AllOtherNamesAlreadyInUse

Coupon-mad said:

You'll know from reading the NEWBIES thread section under the red heading 'IMPORTANT - KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN' at what stage your own witness statement (and any others from other witnesses) are submitted with exhibits. 

Yes, in due course it would be a useful additional WS alongside your own.

Yes I've read that page but surely it's reasonable to be concerned at this stage whether I could write in my defence "I can prove to be a patron of the pub" when I'm not sure if I actually can? Again I'm not legally trained and don't know what constitutes proof in a court of law.

KeithP

...my defence includes "Defendant was an occupant of the car and can prove they were patrons of the pub", so I'm just checking whether a colleague's statement would consitute proof. Surely that's a reasonable question to ask?

Yes, that's a reasonable question to ask.
Yes, that is good evidence. Get a formal Witness Statement from that Witness.
It would be even better if you can get him to attend the hearing too. Otherwise it can be easily discounted as hearsay.

Coupon-mad

You don't need to prove it.  You stating it is sufficient, but even better if you say now:

The Defendant was an occupant of the car and was a genuine patron of the pub, meeting with a friend who will supply a witness statement to corroborate this fact.

AllOtherNamesAlreadyInUse

The plot thickens slightly, I wasn't actually meeting with the colleague, I just bumped into him there and spoke briefly. I actually went to the pub with a girl I was dating at the time, whom I'm no longer in touch with. I could get back in touch if necessary as we left on good terms, just realised we didn't want to take things further.

AllOtherNamesAlreadyInUse

So yes coupon-mad I'll use your statement there and also add that I also saw a colleague there would will also supply a witness statement to corroborate the fact.

Coupon-mad

Yes just say you 'met with' - so my words aren't wrong!