Distress warrant

[missfoxee]

Okay received notification on the 13th April 2012 that a distress warrant has been issued for me for an unpaid magistrates court fine from last September which is currently on appeal and being dealt with by the IPCC, out of the blue on Monday 30th July I received my first call of the Bailiffs from Marston but I only saw the removal notice Tuesday evening due to the children "putting it somewhere" that was the 31st July...the day after which is today I received my final notice at 8am as I was at work they put on it they will call back after 7pm...I am still waiting on them and as of now they still have not turned up,and it is nearly 9pm
My question is this..can they return another day without notice and break into my property as I do have two children here during the day and I am worried
also I have not received anything from the courts about my unability to pay as stated by procedure

[bluebottle]

Re: Distress warrant

Hi Miss Foxee and welcome to Legal Beagles.

My first question is "What the hell are The Muppets from Marstons doing when your case has an appeal pending and the IPCC is dealing with it?"

My second question is "What the hell is H.M. Courts and Tribunals Service doing instructing Marstons when they know the case is subject to appeal and the IPCC is involved?"

Can you specify what the fine was for, please? Marstons will claim they have a power to force entry. A Distress Warrant does not confer any such power on them. Move any motor vehicle well away from your home, a few streets away is good, so they can't levy on it and keep all doors and windows locked and only converse with them through a closed and locked door.

I am a retired policeman and, I'm afraid, cases with irregularities involving Marstons is getting far too frequent, as of late. Could you please send me details of your case by PM, due to it being subject to appeal, and I'll try and help you.

[ploddertom]

Re: Distress warrant

Did you know about the fine? Did you attend Court? Have you moved since? Has the Court sent you a Further Steps Notice which asks you to bring your account up to date or X, Y or Z may happen?

I don't understand what you mean by "currently on appeal and being dealt with by the IPCC"

[scooter lady]

Re: Distress warrant

Hi, I am sorry I can't advice you but I understand how awful this is for you. I hope you are okay. Someone should be around soon to give you some sound advice. Take care x

[Guest]

Re: Distress warrant

Send this to the magistrates court.

I: [NAME] residing at [ADDRESS AND POSTCODE]

DO SOLEMNLY AND SINCERELY DECLARE THAT:

I received a copy of a warrant for distress on [DATE AND TIME] from [NAME OF MAGISTRATES COURT] following an alleged offence on [DATE] for [NATURE OF OFFENCE] that was left at my property by Mr. [NAME OF BAILIFF] who works for [NAME OF COMPANY] without calling to see if anybody was home.

The matter is subject to appeal, for which the proceedings have not been concluded. The proceedings case reference is [REFERENCE].

I make this solemn declaration under Section 7 of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835 believing the same to be true.

DECLARED AT:

SIGNED:

DATE:


Before me:

Solicitor/Commissioner for Oaths:

[Guest]

Re: Distress warrant

PS, Hi Scooter Lady, I'm the guy from Dealing with Bailiffs.

[missfoxee]

Re: Distress warrant

I told them way back in April that there was an appeal going through and also being a subject for the IPCC.
I was stopped late at night by the police for no reason other than going through an amber light the reason I went through the amber light was because as I was coming off the motorway off a slip road I noticed a "car" quite close behind me and as the lights had just turned amber I carried on through as it was too dangerous to stop, The police then put their sirens on got their loud hailer on and asked me to get out of the car they asked me what was the colour of the lights at the junction I said amber the policeman said and amber means? so I replied get ready to go or stop, the young policeman said no amber means to stop, well at the time it was dark, late ( 10.50pm ) I was a lone female and was scared I signed the penalty notice but could not see clearly what was written till I got to my destination then I noticed that the policeman had put " contravening a RED traffic light" so I appealed ...ended up in court in which the policeman in question changed his statement on the day to " going through A light" although I have not yet seen his changed statement but I heard the magistrate mention it and I have a witness to this hence I got fined and costs.I appealed as I would not have been in court had the policeman put contravening "A"light in the first instance and told them that I have never in my life gone through a red light not even temporary traffic lights


Have moved my car, locked all the windows , but I am at work tomorrow and I fear for Marstons breaking in when the children are alone

[missfoxee]

Re: Distress warrant

also they sent me a letter stating " any circumstances relating to the offence or contravention are beyond are jurisdiction and we are unable to comment on the points raised ( which was the appeal and IPCC that I mentioned) we regret therefore we are unable to put this matter on hold or refrain from enforcing the warrant unless otherwise instructed by the magistrate court

[bluebottle]

Re: Distress warrant

I told them way back in April that there was an appeal going through and also being a subject for the IPCC.
I was stopped late at night by the police for no reason other than going through an amber light the reason I went through the amber light was because as I was coming off the motorway off a slip road I noticed a "car" quite close behind me and as the lights had just turned amber I carried on through as it was too dangerous to stop, The police then put their sirens on got their loud hailer on and asked me to get out of the car they asked me what was the colour of the lights at the junction I said amber the policeman said and amber means? so I replied get ready to go or stop, the young policeman said no amber means to stop, well at the time it was dark, late ( 10.50pm ) I was a lone female and was scared I signed the penalty notice but could not see clearly what was written till I got to my destination then I noticed that the policeman had put " contravening a RED traffic light" so I appealed ...ended up in court in which the policeman in question changed his statement on the day to " going through A light" although I have not yet seen his changed statement but I heard the magistrate mention it and I have a witness to this hence I got fined and costs.I appealed as I would not have been in court had the policeman put contravening "A"light in the first instance and told them that I have never in my life gone through a red light not even temporary traffic lights


Have moved my car, locked all the windows , but I am at work tomorrow and I fear for Marstons breaking in when the children are alone

If your children are under 18 years, bailiffs must not enter or attempt to enter, but ask when you will be at home, then walk away. If they are 12 years or under, they must not even speak to them, but walk away. Tell your children to dial 999 and ask the police to attend if The Muppets from Marstons turn up and ask to be let in. In addition to this, the muppets must deal with the debtor, not a third party. Get onto the court first thing tomorrow morning and ask the Court Manager what the hell is going on as your case is subject to appeal. Someone has seriously messed-up. Also, contact the CPS tomorrow. If they know the case is subject to appeal, what is happening should not be happening at all.

I'm attaching MoJ Forms EX343 and EX343A to this post. You may need to complete the EX343A.

[missfoxee]

Re: Distress warrant

I haven't actually seen any distress warrant just a letter saying " Marston group, an approved Enforcement Agency has been instructed by a magistrates court to enforce a distress warrant of your goods" that was when I wrote to them saying it is still under appeal and subject to the IPCC

[missfoxee]

Re: Distress warrant

will do......am on it , and many thanks wish there were more nice people in this world

[missfoxee]

Re: Distress warrant

Saved the Forms and notes and will try and contact the court but it is miles away and the case was almost a year ago now, I will keep you informed .many thanks

[bluebottle]

Re: Distress warrant

I haven't actually seen any distress warrant just a letter saying " Marston group, an approved Enforcement Agency has been instructed by a magistrates court to enforce a distress warrant of your goods" that was when I wrote to them saying it is still under appeal and subject to the IPCC

You won't see the warrant. It appears that Marstons don't like showing people the "Distress Warrants" they claim to have even though they are obliged to show them. It is suspected that the warrants are defective in some way and would leave Marstons with very difficult questions to answer if they force entry. A Distress Warrant does not permit forcible entry, only peaceable entry. A signed and sealed court order is required. Forcible entry without a court order is only permitted in cases of persistent default.

Marstons should not even be involved at this stage and, in any case, any attempt by them to execute distress would, in my considered judgement, amount to Irregular or even Illegal Distress. The fact that your case is subject to judicial appeal means that the court should not have passed the matter to Marstons and have not complied with correct procedures in not sending you a Further Steps Notice.

As stated in my earlier post, ring the Court Manager first thing tomorrow morning and find out what is going on. Remind them the case is subject to appeal and an investigation by the IPCC. After doing that, ring the CPS straightaway and tell them what is going on. It is very important that you do this as the CPS may have to ask for the original judgement by the magistrates court to be quashed. We could be talking of Attempting to Pervert the Course of Justice which is a very serious matter indeed. Make sure you speak to the Court Manager and CPS first thing tomorrow - without fail.

[Guest]

Re: Distress warrant

we regret therefore we are unable to put this matter on hold or refrain from enforcing the warrant unless otherwise instructed by the magistrate court

Thats why post #5 above. That can stop enforcment action.

[bluebottle]

Re: Distress warrant

Saved the Forms and notes and will try and contact the court but it is miles away and the case was almost a year ago now, I will keep you informed .many thanks

You also need to contact the CPS today. If a case is subject to appeal - and appeals can take a long time to come before a court of appeal, whether it be a Crown Court, the High Court or Court of Appeal - everything is put on hold, unless there are exceptional circumstances for not doing so and/or a court has directed otherwise. My gut-feeling is that someone within HMCTS has seriously messed-up and that someone is heading for the sack once it becomes evident why Marstons became involved. The fact is, CPS may have to apply to have the magistrates decision quashed because of what is now happening. Like I said, in an earlier post on this thread, the involvement of Marstons could be seen as Attempting to Pervert the Course of Justice. Believe me, the excrement will hit the air conditioning and when it does serious questions are going to be asked.