CCJ for PCN I knew nothing about

KeithP

hallie28 said:

I have tried for 2 days to send a version over so you can see the properly formatted version, but all my dropbox accounts have my name or work details...

Why not change the name on one dropbox account to Joe Bloggs or Mickey Mouse or something equally anonymous?

hallie28

KeithP said:

hallie28 said:

I have tried for 2 days to send a version over so you can see the properly formatted version, but all my dropbox accounts have my name or work details...

Why not change the name on one dropbox account to Joe Bloggs or Mickey Mouse or something equally anonymous?

Because after spending far too many hours attempting to do it and constantly getting it wrong, I am at my wits end. I have such limited spare time, I am struggling to squeeze anything else in. Apologies, but this is the best I can do with the brain that I've got!

Coupon-mad

hallie28 said:

List of Exhibits

1.       daughter’s Birth Certificate

2.       Arial map of Belgrave Middleway

3.       News articles related to begging and crashes on Belgrave Middleway

4.       The approach to the car park

5.       The road markings in the car park: Red lines on the approach to the car park, The criss-cross box in the car park, the numbers in the parking spaces

6.       Proof of vehicle being sold in August 2021

7.       CEL vs Chan transcript

8.       Parallel Parking vs anon

9.       District Judge Sprague in Luton

10.   Manchester district judge McMurtrie and District Judge Ranson

11.   Google search of Park Central Retail Park

12.   Google images of B15 2DF

13.   Distance between B15 2DF and B15 2DZ

14.   Google Earth pictures of Lexington Gardens

Exhibits go with a Witness Statement (never a defence) so I think you should split your 92 paragraphs into two distinct documents.

92 paragraphs is too much for a defence and will annoy the Judge IMHO.

Para 22 says 'claimant' instead of Defendant.

The second signed document - the Witness Statement - will be the embellishment 'story' of what happened plus all those Exhibits. But remove all of this, which doesn't help your case at all:

9.      The defendant chose to place their car in the photographed spot as it appeared to be the only viable option. The car park has a range of road markings prohibiting parking (Exhibit 5):

10.  There are red double lines on the entrance, signalling no stopping/parking at any time for any reason (in line with the highway code) (Exhibit 5)

11.  There is a large criss-cross box that says “no stopping loading bay” (see Exhibit 5)

12.  All of the car park spaces in the car park are either numbered and allocated to the residential apartments above the shops or allocated to disabled drivers. There are no parking spaces without road markings (see Exhibit 5)

13.  The defendant does not live in the residential apartments and does not have a blue badge, which makes none of the parking spaces viable to them.

hallie28

Thanks for the advice. I will split them tonight. Do I submit the witness statement at the same time as the defence, or wait for the judge to request a witness statement. 

I have re-read the bits you have suggested I remove. I can see that without photographs, it looks like I've chosen to park somewhere that I shouldn't. The car park is for Greggs, co-op and residential properties. Other than the place I put my car, it doesn't appear that you can park anywhere to use those shops. I was trying to convey the point that I parked in the most appropriate place as the car park is marked in a way that is confusing for drivers. 



My car was parked where the black car on the right in the 2nd photo (outside Greggs) was parked

Coupon-mad

OK but you can safely remove all those paragraphs and it all flows better.  Pictures speak louder than words.

Do I submit the witness statement at the same time as the defence, or wait for the judge to request a witness statement. 

DEFINITELY all together with a 'contents' or 'page number Index' sheet at the front of the bundle, because you are post-CCJ and may not be asked for a WS so hit them with it NOW. 

What's your deadline to file & serve this defence bundle?

hallie28

Coupon-mad said:

OK but you can safely remove all those paragraphs and it all flows better.  Pictures speak louder than words.

Do I submit the witness statement at the same time as the defence, or wait for the judge to request a witness statement. 

DEFINITELY all together with a 'contents' or page number Index' sheet at the front of the bundle, because you are post CCJ and may not be asked fir a WS so hit them with it NOW. 

What's your deadline to file & serve this defence bundle?

Thank you I really appreciate it. My deadline is 31st, so I still have some time to fine tune it. As is life, I have also had 2 asap reports to write for work this which, so juggling everything is a bit tricky without propping matchsticks in my eyes! Without your support, I would have thrown in the towel!

Coupon-mad

Nearly there.

hallie28

We have another success - thank you guys :-) 

I had my hearing, the claim was dismissed and I have been awarded £107.65 in costs. 

Interestingly, at the mediation hearing, the judge felt that it was "clear cut that a violation had occurred as I wasn't parked in a marked bay", so I was really nervous for the hearing.

At the hearing, the judge had the completely opposing view and said that the place where my car was placed appeared to be the only logical place a car could be in the carpark, due to the use of numbers and no-parking road markings. He felt satisfied on this argument alone and dismissed the claim. 

I wasn't the best prepared for this hearing, due to juggling the 1000 other life commitments I have at present. The judge was willing to award costs for unreasonable behaviour if I was able to argue this case. All of my points he felt didn't amount to more than the factors that contributed towards the dismissal. I am sure if I was more prepared for this question I could have probably got more. 

Thank you everyone for all of your support - fingers crossed to no more PCNs!  

LDast

Well done. It may have been stressful but it was also a life experience event and you have been successful.

Is there a chunk missing from end of January to today?

hallie28

Thank you.

There isn't a chunk missing - I've had 2 cases ongoing at a similar time, so I had a bit more knowledge of the process for this case. I had a mediation hearing in April and the actual hearing in June.