Witness statement advice

cathryn1988

Just an update - the judge found in our favour and case was dismissed. Not sure what I’m allowed to say on here- dismissed on several points. 

Thank you so much for your help. I would never have done it without your advice and support. 

Coupon-mad

Well done!  Yes, you can tell us now it's over.

When you've stopped celebrating can you give us a more-detailed court report please:

Which Court?
Judge's Name
Who attended for the Claimant, a random legal rep?
Why the Judge found in your favour?
Was it obvious from the start?
Did you have to say much?
A summary of who said what?
Did you get costs?

cathryn1988

Of course. I made some notes through the hearing but I don’t have a full judgement. Where can I get this?

I’ll put the answers together with some useful points he made about this particular car park. 

Coupon-mad

You don't get a full judgment, just a one-liner in a few weeks.  Anything you can recall is great for us to learn from and for newbies to read.

Coupon-mad

cathryn1988 said:

Of course. I made some notes through the hearing but I don’t have a full judgement. Where can I get this?

I’ll put the answers together with some useful points he made about this particular car park. 

Any update summary to this one?  A great victory but we'd love a court report please!

cathryn1988

Sorry - we came down with noro so I forgot to do update. 

Which Court? - Swansea 
Judge's Name - foureacre 
Who attended for the Claimant, a random legal rep? Legal rep
Why the Judge found in your favour?
As I mentioned, solicitors added my defence (not witness statement in bundle). I asked the judge at the beginning if he had it, he did but it became clear that claimant’s solicitor did not. Judge allowed him 10 minutes to find and read, judge said that he had evidence that solicitors were copied in. Before the interval, judge asked solicitor to consider whether the car was parked. 

I was speaking on behalf of neighbour due to hearing issues which I had input into docs. Judge said he would allow. Every time I responded solicitor became angry and said ‘we are addressing the defendant’. Judge said he was of a mind to hear my evidence. It happened again and the judge said he would hear what had to say and then ask defendant to state whether they agreed. 

Judge had personal knowledge of the particular carpark And we came to the conclusion that with the car park divided (although via no physical barrier) into two, the claimant could not reasonably say whether there was an Overstay on their land - he told the solicitor that he may want to make the client aware of this in future - I.e: as there are only cameras on entry and exit, how will they ever prove an overstay (in so many words). However, the appeal letter admitted staying on land so this fell short. 

The signage - this was key. Judge agreed this had changed since the incident and there was no clear evidence that these were not stock photos and he was kept persuaded that they were at the time and date stated. 

The pcn’s did not include the terms and conditions and he was not satisfied that we had been made aware of them. 

I argued that the time line limited the ability to bring more evidence in support of the breakdown. He agreed. Whilst statute of limitations is 6 years he was unsure why the matter hadn’t been dealt with at the time. Whilst appeal was not within the ppc’s timescales, the appeal explained why and the timescales are set by the PPC so don’t have any bearing legally. 

It was really clear by then that it wasn’t going anywhere. I would have loved to have heard his comments on the costs but unfortunately we were over an hour in. 


Was it obvious from the start? In hindsight, yes. 
Did you have to say much? Not really, I did expand on my points. I cited case law and solicitor couldn’t cite a thing. He was really poor, even started smirking at a colleague on camera which the judge did not seem to take kindly to. 
A summary of who said what?
Did you get costs? - I think I would have but bottled it. He asked neighbour if they worked and missed work today but she was retired. Wanted to ask about enhanced costs as per my schedule but I lost my nerve but really wish I had. 

Fruitcake

You won, against legally qualified "professionals".

Well done, and hold your head up high.

Coupon-mad

Nice report - thankyou!

And a good result for a defendant at Swansea, whose Judges have been very naive in the past about the shenanigans of parking firms, in cases I recall.