Small Claims Court where the Claimant does not follow practice directions

[FireWyrm]

I wrote a few weeks ago about a small claim where I am the defendant. I have supplied the court with a packet of evidence and the witness statements required and I have today received a packet from the Claimant containing his "evidence".

The information from the Claimant lacks a witness statement as per the court directions, is incoherent, in the wrong order and frankly I am none the wiser as to what exactly the basis of his case is. We have received notfication of a court date in December, but I dont understand how we can even be hauled into court when the claimant has not explained the problem except in an incoherent rant included in the initial claim statement. What on earth happens? Do we still have to go to court and say effectively "the claimant has not explained his case" wasting time and money, or does somebody adjudicate the packets and decide right from the beginning that this is a complete waste of time.

I have spent literally days drafting defense statements, witness statements, collating emails, binding documents into a bundle and now I have to lose a days pay to go to court. Other than 15 lines of explanation in the initial Claim document, the Claimant has refused to explain his position, refused to answer my solicitor, refused to attend mediation (I was there, he declined to continue) and then this packet of information is just a print out of an invoice and some emails in the wong order. This just isnt fair. How can anyone be expected to defend a case where the Claimant refuses to explain what exactly his grievance is?

[Huxie]

Original thread for background:

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...se-money-claim

[FireWyrm]

Does anyone have any advice? What are the implications of no witness statement included as per the directions I received? How do I describe this to a judge, that it is impossible to mount a defense when I dont know what the claimant is thinking or the way he intends to argue his case? I know what he is up to - that because the contract was frustrated, the whole amount is due, end of discussion - but this seems unfair and completely contrary to what a solicitor told me the law was. How do I describe this unfairness? I complied with the instructions and sent my witness statements and evidence but all I got from the claimant was a bunch of email printouts and no explanation as to what he thinks the liability is exactly.

For clarity, it might be that the Claimant sent his statement to the court directly and did not include a copy to me. Is this normal?