Court Report - Central London (by MS Teams) - PCM (UK) lose again

bargepole

HIGF657M, PCM (UK) v Mr W, before DDJ Lal

 Claimant represented by Mr Devechi, solicitors’ agent.

This was a claim for over £800, for 4 x PCNs. At the material time, Mr W was the manager of a bar, and occasionally had to go to the cash and carry to top up supplies. Access to the bar was via a rear service entrance, which backed on to a service yard used by this and other businesses.

 The UKCPM signage said that you had to display a red permit, but he had never been given one despite asking quite a few times.

 So the whole argument revolved around whether or not he was ‘parked’, on each of the 4 occasions when he was loading/unloading for 10-15 minutes.

 We relied on Jopson v Homeguard, which involved similar considerations, and the DDJ found that case to be persuasive, and dismissed the claim.

 No order as to costs, the whole thing only took 45 minutes.

*Edited, it was PCM (UK), not UKCPM

**Further edit: I forgot to add the title of a favourite Queen hit. Now was it 'We Are The Champions'?  'The Great Pretender'? 'I Want To Break Free'?

No, it was, of course 'Another One Bites The Dust'

MothballsWallet

UKCPM and their legal now looking like complete fools, @bargepole ?

Redx

Great stuff , glad to see the Jopson case being used effectively 😁😁😁👍👍👍

Half_way

Is Mr W still a manager at the bar?  and if so ( or even if its a new manager) have the issues caused by imposing a ppc been resolved, or will this just repeat again?

patient_dream

Claimant represented by Mr Devechi, solicitors’ agent

On behalf of which solicitor ?

bargepole

patient_dream said:

Claimant represented by Mr Devechi, solicitors’ agent

On behalf of which solicitor ?

Presumably Gladstones, as they filed the claim, but I didn't ask, he put forward the usual rubbish arguments, which did not impress the DDJ.

bargepole

Half_way said:

Is Mr W still a manager at the bar?  and if so ( or even if its a new manager) have the issues caused by imposing a ppc been resolved, or will this just repeat again?

No, he's now working at a different bar owned by the same group. These were historic tickets from late 2019 / early 2020.

patient_dream

bargepole said:

patient_dream said:

Claimant represented by Mr Devechi, solicitors’ agent

On behalf of which solicitor ?

Presumably Gladstones, as they filed the claim, but I didn't ask, he put forward the usual rubbish arguments, which did not impress the DDJ.

I have read a lot about Gladstones, No wonder the judge dismissed the case

D_P_Dance

 No order as to costs, the whole thing only took 45 minutes.

I would not be happy about that.  Not even £60 for your time?  

bargepole

D_P_Dance said:

 No order as to costs, the whole thing only took 45 minutes.

I would not be happy about that.  Not even £60 for your time?  

There would have to have been a finding of unreasonable behaviour by the Claimant for that to be awarded, and as they had complied with all Court orders and directions, they could not be deemed to have behaved unreasonably.

Mr W was more than happy that he doesn't have to fork out the £800+ they were claiming, and was happy to pay my fee.

D_P_Dance

I was too was happy to pay your fee, but I was not happy that the judge rejected my claim for unreasonable behabviour. 

It is time that judges recognise that these companies cause people anxiety and waste their time. The rules on vexatious litigation need to be reviewed imo