Defendant has modified our Witness Statement

Rosa_Klebb

We are taking our new house builder to court over some unfinished snagging works valued at several thousand pounds.  They have been dis-honest throughout but it has been often difficult to prove this without having it in writing.  We have a trial date early next week.

We have already submitted the final trial bundle to the court last week (as required by the court within 7 days of the hearing).  This contains all of the witness statements and evidence from us the Claimant, and the Defendant.

This morning however we received an alternative trial bundle submitted by the Defendant, which they have asked to court to replace our previously trial bundle, as they have some new evidence.  We are totally fine with them presenting new evidence.  What we are not fine with though is that the Defendant has removed some of the evidence that we have previously submitted (evidence that is damning to the Defence).  They have also doctored the prior email correspondence between the two parties that we were using as evidence, by removing any statements that paint the Defendant in a bad light.  They have also doctored previously submitted emails from their suppliers that suggested that they were liable.

In essence the Defendant has tampered with our evidence that supports our Witness statement and re-submitted this to the court.  They have also tampered with the emails of others providing evidence in the case.  It is clear that this is not an accident and has been done deliberately.  They did not point out specifically that they had tampered with our evidence, it was simply left for us to find when we trawled through nearly 2 inches of paperwork this morning. I am guessing they did not expect us to read everything.

So it would seem that they are attempting to mislead the court.  So the question is, what would be the right way to handle this?  We of course intend to inform the court, but this is quite a serious matter I am guessing?

NSG666

Are you referring to small claims court?
If so I've been twice and each side submits their evidence and the court reviews all of it so your version of the emails / correspondence will be seen as well as theirs. Each side gets a chance to put their side of the story across.

I'm not a legal expert just someone who's been through it and relaying my experience of that.

Rosa_Klebb

Yes small claims court.  The Defendant has altered our Witness statement and our evidence and re-sent to the court as updated evidence from them, hoping that we would not notice perhaps?

Very strange behaviour!

Undervalued

I assume it was the defendant themselves and not a solicitor acting on their behalf?

A solicitor could get struck off for doing that!

As for the defendant, well surely that is attempting to pervert the course of justice? Potentially a very serious offence although I suspect it won't actually get prosecuted.

If you can clearly demonstrate to the judge that has happened it won't paint the defendant in a very good light!

NSG666

Might have been hoping that you were not savvy enough to have kept records and submitted them. You get a copy of what they submit and vice versa but the court gets both versions and has to try and establish the truth.

If you don't mind me asking, are you representing yourselves in court and is this a business to business contract or are you just a private customer?

Rosa_Klebb

Representing ourselves in court.  This is us, vs a builder.  We are not sure whether a solicitor or the Defendant but we assume the Defendant since we have not been dealing with any solicitors appointed by them.

The Defendant with their latest submission to court has attempted to alter the evidence and documents previously submitted to the Court by us, the Claimant.  The Defendant has then re-submitted this altered evidence and documents to the court as though it has come from us, the Claimant.  We are assuming they were hoping we would not notice and that the Judge would work from the latest documents only (i.e. the latest ones submitted by the Defendant).

This is a civil rather than a criminal case so not sure if 'perverting the course of justice' would apply?

We can clearly demonstrate to the Judge that this has happened, we have both documents, the original and the one altered by the Defendant.

KeithP

Rosa_Klebb said:

This is a civil rather than a criminal case so not sure if 'perverting the course of justice' would apply?

Yes, it does still apply. It applies in both Civil and Criminal Courts.

Rosa_Klebb

KeithP said:

Rosa_Klebb said:

This is a civil rather than a criminal case so not sure if 'perverting the course of justice' would apply?

Yes, it does still apply. It applies in both Civil and Criminal Courts.

Would the tampering with evidence in a civil case be classed as 'contempt of court'?

NSG666

Thanks. The reason I asked is that if the house is part of a business e.g. buy to let then the law that applies is different. It sounds like consumer law will apply in this case and it's much more weighted towards protecting the consumer so that's in your favour.

If you have not been to small claims court before it's a bit nerve wracking but the judge will not expect you to be a legal expert with a slick case. When they come to give their verdict they do like to build their role (do their job) and one moment you'll think you've won and the next that you've lost and finally they'll give their decision. Oh and it's nothing like Judge Rinder 

NSG666

Rosa_Klebb said:

Would the tampering with evidence in a civil case be classed as 'contempt of court'?

Don't worry about that it's for the court to decide.

Manxman_in_exile

I don't really know anything about procedure in the small claims court except that it's relatively informal and parties have a bit more leeway than in a "real" court.

Having said that, IF you are 100% certain that the defendant has attempted to alter* evidence that you are submitting - and you are 100% certain you can prove that - then simply draw it to the court's (ie judge's) attention from the outset.

I would ask at the beginning of proceedings if you can have permission to address the court and simply say that upon examining the defendant's bundle you have noticed that in their version of the bundle there appear to be material discrepancies* between their version of evidence that you are submitting, and your own evidence that you have submitted in your own bundle.  You could then ask the judge if they could ask the defendant for an explanation of those discrepancies as you are at a loss to understand them.  (Or something like that - you may have to think on your feet a bit.  If the judge says "No" you'll have to raise the discrepancies as they appear when the evidence is being considered).

I would also prepare a written schedule detailing all the discrepancies you have found so you can use that schedule to support your address to the court.  Or if the court asks you for a written submission, you have something prepared and ready to go.  Make sure you have copies for the court and the defendant as well as yourself.

See what additional advice you get from other posters here - because as I say I am no expert and certainly not a lawyer. 

Also, depending on when your hearing next week is, you may want to seek advice as to whether you ought to be warning the defendant of what you plan to do - I understand that courts do not like one party "ambushing" the other without notice, even if the party being ambushed has been "naughty".   Obviously, if your hearing is 9am on Monday it's now too late, but if it's 2pm on Friday perhaps you ought to consider it.

Don't just rely on my advice - see what others say.  Good luck!


*Personally I would steer clear of suggesting that the defendant has deliberately tampered with anything.  Just draw the discrepancies to the attention of the court and let the judge draw their own conclusions...

And yes, people can pervert the course of justice in civil cases too.  Justice isn't only restricted to criminal proceedings.  [Edit:  And it could be contempt too.  Civil or criminal court does not matter.  But don't get concerned about that.  Bring it to the court's attention and the court will deal with it as they see fit]

(And don't kick anybody in the shins - no matter how much you'd like to!    )