One Parking solution fine, Ms Wilshaw case was successfully appealed apparently

priciples021

Hi All,   Some help and advice please.   One parking solution issued a fine which I didnt receive.  The first i knew of it was Court papers.  Prior to that i had received some debt collection letters but threw them away thinking they were a scam.  basically, I had no idea that i was parked illegally.  Now, it was the same car park as the now, oft quoted case of Ms Wilshaw and my parking fine was from 19 days before her case was heard.  It is different because we were apparently parked for 45 mins although the passenger was sitting in the car for the last 30 mins.  Im not familiar with the car park or Lewes at all and assumed that the parking was for the adjacent supermarket.  I remember reading a sign and thinking that it was saying that you had to pay if you werent using the supermarket, i.e. the usual thing so it didnt occur to me that i was parked illegally at all.   When I recieved the court papers, I chose mediation.  At mediation I quoted the Wilshaw case and the solicitor said they werent familiar with it at all.  That rang alarm bells as I didnt believe anyone in the parking game doesnt know about that case.  So I dug a bit further and found a LPC law (the claimants in the Ms Wilshaw case) news letter saying they had successfuly appealed the ruling and that Ms Wilshaw had then had to pay costs.  So is this true?  Because if so, people need to be aware that they cant rely on quoting this case.  I was hoping to use the judges ruling that there was no evidence that the claimant had the right to manage the land or sue on his behalf.  I guess that i cant if this has been overturned.  How would i find information about such an appeal?
 

D_P_Dance

An LPC law letter is hardly a reliable siurce of information imo.  Have you  asked LPC law for full details.  

ParkingMad

Here is the thread about the appeal

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6147117/sunday-times-article-one-parking-solution/p7

Here is the article in the local paper

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/19345921.driver-must-pay-almost-4k-one-parking-solution-stopping-eastgate-wharf-lewes/

Coupon-mad

We know it was appealed.  We are well aware, which is why it's not used in the template defence.  No one relies on quoting that case this year.

if you were parked at Eastgate Wharf for 45 minutes without paying you can't win, IMHO.  You can't just sit in a car and think you are not parked snd not read signage.

Under TEN minutes and the Wilshaw appeal helps you.  It was even in the Argus.

priciples021

I find it odd that its possible to park there unknowingly and they can just fine you because they have signage even though the signage isnt clear.  We parked because we genuinely believed it was supermarket parking.  That shouldn't be possible surely?  Im not dim, i have 2 degrees but not in law or parking obviously.  That case does say that the signage is inadequate.  The appeal seems to imply that no signage can be called inadequate.  Thats nonsensical imho.  The fact that there was a passenger in the car who could have moved the car if they had been asked or if they were impedeing anyones access to anywhere seems relevant.  The fact that all the spaces were free there and that the supermarket carpark was all but empty as it was during lockdown also seems relevant as if we had understood the signage we obviously wouldnt have parked there to shop.  I know what seems common sense doesnt always apply in law as Dickens so eloquently stated but surely they equate to something?

D_P_Dance

It is not a fine, please stop using that word.  It is an invoice for monetary compensation for an alleged breach of contract.  In matters such as this accurate use of langage is  a sine qua non.  

priciples021

I guess we had factors which were affecting our observation ability maybe, in that it was the first time we had ever been to Lewes (we were delivering medical items to a clinic there as a one off) it was the first lockdown and we were nervous about being out and about.  We only went to the supermarket there as we thought it would be better to reduce the number of trips out and about.  But also, I NEVER received a letter about the fine until the debt collection letter.  I believe that this is because of the lockdown.  They are saying that they sent letters but we categorically never received anything  until the debt collection letters much much later.  It all feels really underhand which is why I dont want them to get away with it but I suspect they just do what they like.  I said at mediation that i would pay the cost of parking there, a reasonable cost for parking my car for 45 minutes in an empty carpark.  But thats not 250 quid.   Do I really have to let these people win?

Coupon-mad

None of it will work.  I am so sorry.  This dreadful decision is persuasive on the local Judges.

I lay repped and won the first case but at appeal, OPS/QDR threw thousands at a top barrister, experienced in parking cases who had the Judge eating out of his hand even though he was using ancient 'ticket cases' case law that went out with the ark.

We crowdfunded for a barrister but as it turned out, I could have done a better job myself (hindsight).

However, the poor Defendant was also clobbered for unreasonable conduct for supporting the over-zealous words of the first Judge, which I won't repeat and were NOT words I used in the first hearing.

She was a 70 year old lady who was ordered to pay over £3k in costs.  I mean 'shocking' doesn't begin to cover it...we all know (except circuit Judges) that thanks to OPS and their previous named companies, this has been a 'no go' clamping entrapment zone for years, then when clamping was banned, it morphed to a predatory ticketing area with appallingly non-prominent signage.

But HHJ Simpkiss doesn't think so.

We also had the problem that the defence wasn't robust so it was suggested that she hadn't pleaded things, which in fact she had but hey ho, Judge's mind was made up that the signs are clear enough despite the entrance sign being twisted away from the road so no one knows they are in a pay and display car park.

Search the LEWES PRESENT facebook page for 'Laura Ashley'...this has been going on for years with predatory ticketing by CCTV, after clamping became a criminal offence.  So many reports.

priciples021

Thats very depressing.

Coupon-mad

It seriously upset Norma W but she is a strong, principled lady and she keeps the moral high ground in this one, I think consumers would agree.

So would plenty of the local Judges I am sure, who must be spitting feathers that antiquated and outdated case law about 'ticket cases' from over a hundred years ago (I think) was relied upon by HHJ Simpkiss and not the Beavis case or Consumer Rights Act, both from 2015 and both of which confirm that PROMINENCE of terms and signs is now required.

That purported entrance sign was twisted away from drivers' vision for over two years, according to evidence from GOOGLE STREETVIEW.  And yes, it was in her bundle but our barrister was bamboozled and didn't raise any of Norma's points.  Even if he had, I am not sure we'd have got a different result.

Just as sad is that an unsuspecting animal charity, Raystede,  is about to open a shop after Laura Ashley was driven out (could be unrelated but it was a place boycotted by victims, so it's fair to conclude they lost customers).

So this entrapment zone that the Circuit Judge has decided is all fine and hunky dory, now sits between two charity shops.  Take bags of donations there at your peril. 

priciples021

TBH its put me off Lewes completely.  i'm too scared to park anywhere!