Got a Court Date mid Jan - Witness Statement Advice Needed Please

eliza2811

Coupon-mad said:

We doubt they'll pay the hearing fee. CEL often discontinue because they aren't looking for hearings, so this could well be all over v soon.

However, start preparing your WS.

Examples that include Chan & Akande are on lots of recent threads, including by:

@aza123

@Kpmp54

Thank you 🙂 

eliza2811

Is it appropriate to send my evidence ie debit card transaction, emails from restaurant manager to CEL and court at this stage please? Along with Witness statement. Thanks. 

Car1980

Yes. They need to be labelled "Exhibit A", "Exhibit B" etc., and include a table of contents.

Pages need to be numbered and so do paragraphs. Use double line spacing and 12 point type.

eliza2811

Car1980 said:

Yes. They need to be labelled "Exhibit A", "Exhibit B" etc., and include a table of contents.

Pages need to be numbered and so do paragraphs. Use double line spacing and 12 point type.

Thanks for the tips. 

I feel like I'm in school doing 'creative writing' again 😩

Le_Kirk

Except your witness statement needs to be factual; leave the creative writing to the claimant!

eliza2811

Le_Kirk said:

Except your witness statement needs to be factual; leave the creative writing to the claimant!

  I'm a very factual person. When I've finished it, I'll post it in here for advice.

Cheers 

Gr1pr

eliza2811 said:

Castle said:

eliza2811 said:

So the Court Date is January. Witness Statement needs to be sorted before 15th Dec. Didn't expect it so soon really. 

And when does the hearing fee have to be paid by?

By 2pm on 15th December. Court date is 12th Jan. 

Its not usually the same date as the WS deadline,  usually the hearing fee deadline is before the WS deadline 

Plus it's usually 4pm , not 2pm , although different courts have different procedures 

As for Exhibits, they should be your initials plus a number,  to personalise them , not generic 

So Alan Brian Cooper would be ABC01, ABC02, etc

Its definitely like every day is a school day, which it is for lawyers too ( and the regular contributors here as well   ), be they paralegals or qualified SRA registered professionals , or us

eliza2811

Gr1pr said:

eliza2811 said:

Castle said:

eliza2811 said:

So the Court Date is January. Witness Statement needs to be sorted before 15th Dec. Didn't expect it so soon really. 

And when does the hearing fee have to be paid by?

By 2pm on 15th December. Court date is 12th Jan. 

Its not usually the same date as the WS deadline,  usually the hearing fee deadline is before the WS deadline 

Plus it's usually 4pm , not 2pm , although different courts have different procedures 

As for Exhibits, they should be your initials plus a number,  to personalise them , not generic 

So Alan Brian Cooper would be ABC01, ABC02, etc

Its definitely like every day is a school day, which it is for lawyers too ( and the regular contributors here as well   ), be they paralegals or qualified SRA registered professionals , or us

Thanks very much 

eliza2811

I've made a bit of a start on the Witness Statement.   Paragraph 1 is personal information so left out on the forum.  

I've not added any legal jargon into it at this point, just stated what happened on the evening, etc.  In all honestly, the legal jargon will be pointless if my hubby has to read it out in court, as he won't understand it.  

Any comments are welcome, please. Thanks 

2. On Sunday 25th February 2024, at 18.47 hrs, the Driver drove into the Pear Tree Inn car park and parked up, along with a female companion, to have a slightly belated Valentines meal.

3. For those unfamiliar with the Pear Tree Inn, it serves mainly curry type meals/grills. The registered keeper had visited the restaurant previously with friends.

4. Due to the time of the year, it was dark. Signs could be seen with in the car park, but some were high up and small print could not be read. The Driver has slightly bad eyesight as it is. Driver and companion most likely used the side door to enter the pub side of the building. No tablet to enter a car registration was seen

5. To access the restaurant, you enter a lobby, which has a front door within it, which leads out to the pavement. Again no tablet seen to enter a car registration into.

6. Driver and companion ordered food at the hatch. Drinks were bought separately. The female companion was the bill payer.  Bill was £31.40 for the food and £2.00 for 2 drinks of squash. Paid with a Lloyds Bank debit card. Bank statement and transaction details are Exhibit A. The meal was eaten within the Pear Tree Inn restaurant.

7. As it was a Sunday, the restaurant wasn’t busy, and Driver and companion left the car park at 19.43 hrs.

8. Just of note, this car park has unmarked bays, no time limit and no machines within it to buy a permit/parking ticket. It is my belief that if a restaurant wants a customer to enter a registration number into a tablet, they should be placed near entrances to the building or staff should direct customer’s to enter their registration number.

Evidence

9. Exhibit B shows signs within the Pear Tree Inn car park. The print out is taken from Google Maps, due to the signs being removed by late April 2024. Issue Date for the Parking Charge was 15th April 2024.

10. At top of the blue and white sign, it reads ‘The Pear Tree Inn Customer Parking Only’. As per the Dictionary, a CUSTOMER is a person or business that purchases goods or services from another entity. I am including this definition for the benefit of Civil Enforcement Ltd. 

11. On the Particulars of Claim document dated 24 June 2025, it is unclear exactly with contract terms/condition, the Registered Keeper has not adhered to. It has been proven that the Driver and companion used the car park as customers of the Pear Tree Inn, through Exhibit A that money and time was spent at the restaurant.

12. I highlight Exhibit C, which are screenshots of Whatsapp messages between Tiffany Beard at Creative Car Park and Jagdeep Guru and Sonamdeep Bilan. They are directors of Quad Glassy Ltd and appear to manage the Pear Tree Inn.Creative Car Park is the same company as Civil Enforcement Ltd.

Gr1pr

Nobody has to read out a statement,  no idea why you thought that aspect