Have a letter asking me to go to court for theft! was more unpaid debt ADVICE NEEDED

[Spikeyboy]

You should have asked for the duty solicitor - were you offered one ? Initial legal advice is usually free at that stage.

no i wasnt - like i said didnt really know what was happening. i thought it was an interview and they would say you can sort it out between you

[lgfa92]

no i wasnt - like i said didnt really know what was happening. i thought it was an interview and they would say you can sort it out between you

That is another point to raise with a solicitor as they should have made you aware of the right to take legal advice.A failure to have done so may assist your defence.

[des8]

Typical plod technique.... "only a little chat to find out what happened.... just tell us your side of the story..... nothing to worry about.... you won't need a solicitor ...etc etc."

Did you sign a statement at the cop shop? If so do you have a copy of it?

You do need a solicitor NOW.

[Spikeyboy]

That is another point to raise with a solicitor as they should have made you aware of the right to take legal advice.A failure to have done so may assist your defence.

ok thanks im gonna speak to one tomorrow, i would have thought speaking to citizens advice, stepchange, iva, being signed off shortly after beacuse of financhial pressures wouuld go in my favour, im just worried what will happen a) if i plead not guilty and they say i am or b if i get fined and cant pay there and then and obvioulsy i dont want a criminal record at this point in my life. i have responsibilities of work my dogs bills and home

[Spikeyboy]

Typical plod technique.... "only a little chat to find out what happened.... just tell us your side of the story..... nothing to worry about.... you won't need a solicitor ...etc etc."

Did you sign a statement at the cop shop? If so do you have a copy of it?

You do need a solicitor NOW.

i think i did yes - they recorded it which i felt good about at the time as i could give my side

[lgfa92]

ok thanks im gonna speak to one tomorrow, i would have thought speaking to citizens advice, stepchange, iva, being signed off shortly after beacuse of financhial pressures wouuld go in my favour, im just worried what will happen a) if i plead not guilty and they say i am or b if i get fined and cant pay there and then and obvioulsy i dont want a criminal record at this point in my life. i have responsibilities of work my dogs bills and home

Most of that would be mitigation for sentencing rather than a defence against the charge.

They need to show that you "dishonestly makes off without having paid as required or expected and with intent to avoid payment of the amount due shall be guilty of an offence" . Dishonesty these days is based on what a reasonable person would say given the situation.

Did you say you couldn't pay on the day before he administered the Botox ?

[Spikeyboy]

Most of that would be mitigation for sentencing rather than a defence against the charge.

They need to show that you "dishonestly makes off without having paid as required or expected and with intent to avoid payment of the amount due shall be guilty of an offence" . Dishonesty these days is based on what a reasonable person would say given the situation.

Did you say you couldn't pay on the day before he administered the Botox ?

no i thought i could pay my wages went in monday instead of friday when the appointment was - i didnt realise they hadnt til i went to pay

[des8]

As I said in Post 12 "no intention", but you possibly incriminated yourself at that police interview.

[lgfa92]

no i thought i could pay my wages went in monday instead of friday when the appointment was - i didnt realise they hadnt til i went to
pay

Is it usual that you don't pay until after the injections ? If so, did you tell them you couldn't pay on the day, as usual, before you had the injection ?

[Spikeyboy]

Is it usual that you don't pay until after the injections ? If so, did you tell them you couldn't pay on the day, as usual, before you had the injection ?

no i thought i could pay the funds didnt go through on my card as my wages wernt in

[lgfa92]

no i thought i could pay the funds didnt go through on my card as my wages wernt in

That's still not answering the question though - you're going to need to to try get some clarity otherwise you'll struggle with the solicitor.

1) How is the process of payment normally dealt with - do you normally get the injection and pay on the spot afterwards or do they normally give an invoice to pay afterwards ?

[Setmefree3]

A bit off course here, but in your original post you said that you suffer from anxiety. Currently there has been a connection between depression and wanting Botox to try to change things.

https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/27/botox...blems-9326843/

https://news.sky.com/story/botox-cus...ssues-11704620

I don’t know if the above will have any bearing on your case, but perhaps mention it to your solicitor. Good luck.

[MasterCoder]

I am surprised that the police and magistrates are involved in this. I have had many people fail to pay me for work I've done in the past and I doubt very much the police would have involved themselves in what is essentially a civil matter.

But the letter you have posted implies two things. First, that you not only left without paying the bill but didn't tell the provider of the service you were leaving; much like filling your car up at a petrol station and driving off without paying. Second, that you never had any intention of paying for the services you were taking at the time. If he's made that accusation then they can claim criminal intent.

First off, you need a solicitor. If you're unemployed and receiving benefits and other treatment then you must surely qualify for some form of legal aid. You can't just rock up on the day and try and plea your way out of it.

Secondly, if you have letters/texts/emails from the service provider that show he let you leave without paying the bill on the understanding that you'd pay later then the criminal aspect vanishes making it a civil matter. The Theft Act makes the point that it is theft if payment is required on the spot but, 'Also, if the goods or services are offered on the understanding that they will be paid for, but the defendant enters an agreement to defer payment, no payment is expected or required on the spot and therefore no liability for making off can arise' . Using the fuel payment analogy again, if you fill up but have forgotten your debit card, you usually have to fill in a form promising to pay. But, again, you'd need to find a solicitor to go through it with you.

As pointed out above, when you went in for a chat under caution you're entitled to free legal representation and they should have offered you the duty solicitor or advice from the Defence Solicitor Call Centre (DSCC). If they didn't offer you any free legal advice then they can get in big trouble.

Don't spend your time on here though, go get a solicitor. Good luck.

[MasterCoder]

On the second photo you uploaded there's a whole section on representation and getting a solicitor. Call that number!

[Setmefree3]

Ok, Post 25 says that your transaction was declined. From my point of view you did attempt to make payment at the time. I don’t know if your bank records a lists of declined transactions, but if it does, it will help.

A processor decline indicates that the customer’s bank has refused the transaction request. Sometimes you can tell why it was declined by reading the response code, but only the customer's bank can confirm the specific reason.

The most common reasons for declines are:

• Incorrect credit card number or expiration date
• Insufficient funds
• The bank declined based on location
• The bank's fraud rules blocked the transaction