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Contempt of Court

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  • Contempt of Court

    In a submitted defence ( signed for by the defendants solicitor who has ceased to act ) are lies which the defendant has now admitted in writing in his supporting evidence

    an example in question concerns a fridge freezer door. In his signed defence he claims to have bought and fitted this item, but has subsequently written in a supporting letter that this was in fact not the case. There are other examples as well

    in a nut shell is this contempt of court given it’s within a sworn statement of truth or as in a previous thread, is the defence now no longer valid as his solicitor has ceased to act?

    it must be one or the other in my humble opinion but would appreciate any advise

    Tags: None

  • #2
    Sorry some further context. The broken fridge freezer door was part of check in / check out notification during a tenancy at my property. The check out report noted it was broken but the defendant lied in his defence statement stating he bought and fitted a new item. He now subsequently denies this. As mentioned there are other examples. Again in his defence he claims all lighting issues were rectified by my own cover under BG HomeCare. This was another lie as I knew my HomeCare did not cover the items he left damaged but states were repaired.

    Can I pre empt the hearing with a request for judgement based on the fact the defendant has already shown that he is prepared to lie. Or do I ask the judge on the day to hold him in contempt of court or to dismiss his defence as it is not signed by him

    Comment


    • #3
      Does anybody have any comments?

      Comment


      • #4
        My N244 hearing has now been aligned to the same day as the small claims hearing.*
        Given that the defendant has admitted to the fact he lied in his initial defence, surely this brings into question anything else he has to say and that his defence should be dismissed?

        Comment


        • #5
          There doesn't seem to be a lot of info on this thread.

          I don't think the other party will be restricted from attending the hearing and giving evidence just because there were mistakes that he has now admitted in his witness statement. It was wildly optimistic of you to request judgment on that basis, and the court may not allow your costs for that application.

          what these mistakes (lies, if you prefer) do is strike at the credibility of the other party. I think it's perfectly understandable that he might not know the scope of your home care policy, but he has some explaining to do about the fridge door. I would not just assume that he was lying deliberately, and the judge will like the fact that he has admitted he made mistakes. It makes him sound rather honest, actually, although possibly a bit scatter brained.

          so, the trial will go ahead. Both parties will be listened to, and the judge will have to decide what is fair wear and tear, etc. I suggest you forget about the striking out of the defence, and concentrate on making your substantive case at the trial as well and fairly as you can.

          Comment


          • #6
            Hi thanks for your response

            the court have accepted my N244 for a hearing which will be on the same day as the actual case

            the defendant has lied (admitting to 1 in a subsequent letter blaming his solicitor who has now ceased to act ) but has also lied regarding ie my HomeCare agreement with BG. He sent me an email earlier this year claiming BG did not cover the necessary actions for goods to be repaired and or replaced but he is now staring within his own defence that he will state BG did the necessary repairs and replacements he initially denied. I have an email from BG that also backs my position so he very clearly did have sight of and knowledge of my BG HomeCare agreement. This along with other obvious lies of which there are 5 are all winning his sworn statement of truth which he has submitted so I am confused as to why someone who has factually lied cannot be held in contempt. He may well have tried to be honest on 1 point but is proven to be liar by his own admission and 4 other points prove it

            On this basis I am stunned to hear that any judge could look favourably upon anyone attempting to mis lead the courts in such an obvious an extraordinary fashion ?

            Comment


            • #7
              Further to my reply I am not sure why assume the defendant would not be attending the hearing as I never implied otherwise. Also they were not mistakes they were lies. This case has been going on for months and in each iteration of his defence he always stated in this particular example that he would say in court that he supplied and fitted a new freezer door to an expensive smeg freezer that he damaged. Now he is stating he didn't buy or fit a new door at all, so not a mistake but a lie.

              Given this lie is now admitted it is clear he was and is willing to lie in a defence with a statement of truth attached also signed. He had every opportunity over the last 10 months to come clean about this clear lie and others in his defence statement but has instead submitted the same defence with an attached letter claiming his solicitor was rushed and made this mistake. He hasn't however admitted other glaringly obvious lies that I have submitted as part of an N244 application that has been accepted by the court where I ask for the defence to be struck out on the basis of lies in an attempt to mislead the courts but also to request summary judgement. To provide some more context here the subject matter of his defence contains numerous photographs which he has hand dated. Basically these could have been taken by anyone at anytime and indeed he has used photos of my house interior that he has extracted from a previous tenancy agreement not his own
              this content is inadmissible and forms the basis of the majority of his defense so has very little chance of success despite the additional lies

              Comment

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