MACKENZIE

[miliitant]

Re: MACKENZIE

Sorry teaboy but this is incorrect. This is a fixed sum agreement that has gone beyond it's term. There is no need for a default notice under section 87 as all amounts due under the contract will be arrears and the agreement would have been terminated. Sometimes they send a DN but there is no requirement , they just need a letter before action as required under CPR.

The main defense on these is unfairness of charges and the application of default interest at the exorbitant contractual rate.
D

i believe we had this debate davyb

and we agreed to differ

[lid]

Re: MACKENZIE

will do! THANK YOU ALL FOR HELP will keep u posted x

[bluebottle]

Re: MACKENZIE

and protection from harassment act 1997 is just as powerful as section 40 AOJ is.

fergusson v british gas is testament to that statement

Actually, Militant, it is a lot more powerful than Section 40, Administration of Justice Act 1970. Section 3, Protection from Harassment Act 1997 contains a provision that allows a court to impose a penalty on those breaching an injunction granted under Section 3 of an unlimited fine, or up to five years' imprisonment, or both. Section 40, Administration of Justice Act 1997 comes nowhere near that, nor does it contain a provision allowing a bailiff, company, creditor or DCA to be legally-restrained from harassing an individual.

[Guest]

Re: MACKENZIE

i believe we had this debate davyb

and we agreed to differ

Yes i thought it had come up before, the problem is that the courts tend to agree with me.

The legislation is quite clear.

D

[Guest]

Re: MACKENZIE

Actually, Militant, it is a lot more powerful than Section 40, Administration of Justice Act 1970. Section 3, Protection from Harassment Act 1997 contains a provision that allows a court to impose a penalty on those breaching an injunction granted under Section 3 of an unlimited fine, or up to five years' imprisonment, or both. Section 40, Administration of Justice Act 1997 comes nowhere near that, nor does it contain a provision allowing a bailiff, company, creditor or DCA to be legally-restrained from harassing an individual.

Correct it does not come any where near, it does not apply.

D

[Guest]

Re: MACKENZIE

Thinking about the default notice issue,it is a bit of a no brainer really.
Say a DN was required, now say that the DN was none compliant for some reason, so the creditor would only be able to claim the arrears, which would be the same as the claim.

D

[bluebottle]

Re: MACKENZIE

Correct it does not come any where near, it does not apply.

D

I beg to differ. Making threats and abusive telephone calls in the circumstances described is -

1. Following A Course of Conduct Amounting to Harassment (Section 2, Protection from Harassment Act 1997)[OC and DCA];
2. Aiding and Abetting Another in A Course of Conduct Amounting to Harassment (Section 7, Protection from Harassment Act 1997)[DCA];
3. Procuring Another to Engage in A Course of Conduct Amounting to Harassment (Section 7, Protection from Harassment Act 1997)[OC];
4. Misuse of a Public Electronic Communications Network (Section 127, Communications Act 2003)[DCA];
5. Blackmail (Section 21, Theft Act 1968) [If the DCA has no right in law to make threats and it is not a proper means of enforcing a demand][DCA].

In Ferguson -v- British Gas Trading Ltd 2009, BG was adjudged to have engaged in a course of conduct amounting to harassment. I rest my case.

[Curlyben]

Re: MACKENZIE

Right I have cleaned this thread up as it is making everyone involved look very childish.
Are we really stooping THAT low.


Also, for the avoidance of doubt, Teaboy, you are incorrect in your reading of The Act.
As a PDL is designed to be repaid in ONE lump, over a term not exceeding 1 calendar month, it is NOT covered by The Act and so the need for a DN is superfluous.
See also Amex (and other) CHARGE cards.
I'm sorry but I can't recall the specific section that covers this, but I will dig it out if you wish to argue the toss.

[Guest]

Re: MACKENZIE

Right I have cleaned this thread up as it is making everyone involved look very childish.
Are we really stooping THAT low.


Also, for the avoidance of doubt, Teaboy, you are incorrect in your reading of The Act.
As a PDL is designed to be repaid in ONE lump, over a term not exceeding 1 calendar month, it is NOT covered by The Act and so the need for a DN is superfluous.
See also Amex (and other) CHARGE cards.
I'm sorry but I can't recall the specific section that covers this, but I will dig it out if you wish to argue the toss.

HI Curly

Thanks for that.
As much as it would suit my interests to agree with you I am afraid i cannot, PDL are covered by the act.
The section of the exemptions you refer to are i think these.

3.6 The Act does not regulate a debtor-creditor-supplier agreement for
fixed-sum credit where the credit is provided without interest and
without any other charges and which is:
• an agreement under which the total number of payments to be
made by the debtor does not exceed four, and those payments are
required to be made within a period not exceeding 12 months
beginning with the date of the agreement29

It only applies if there is no charge for credit, also d-c-s agreements

However default notices are not required on any fixed sum agreement that has gone past its term because there is no accelerated payment due, all sums under the agreement (interest + principle) are arrears. and reclaimable, section 87 does not touch them.

The section 87 angle has been tried against PD loans companies OTR (see silygirls threads) it does not work, i wish it did

D

[Guest]

Re: MACKENZIE

I beg to differ. Making threats and abusive telephone calls in the circumstances described is -

1. Following A Course of Conduct Amounting to Harassment (Section 2, Protection from Harassment Act 1997)[OC and DCA];
2. Aiding and Abetting Another in A Course of Conduct Amounting to Harassment (Section 7, Protection from Harassment Act 1997)[DCA];
3. Procuring Another to Engage in A Course of Conduct Amounting to Harassment (Section 7, Protection from Harassment Act 1997)[OC];
4. Misuse of a Public Electronic Communications Network (Section 127, Communications Act 2003)[DCA];
5. Blackmail (Section 21, Theft Act 1968) [If the DCA has no right in law to make threats and it is not a proper means of enforcing a demand][DCA].

In Ferguson -v- British Gas Trading Ltd 2009, BG was adjudged to have engaged in a course of conduct amounting to harassment. I rest my case.

BB
I was not referring to the sections you mention, i was referring to the AOJ act, the sections in your post do apply of course.

D

[bluebottle]

Re: MACKENZIE

BBI was not referring to the sections you mention, i was referring to the AOJ act, the sections in your post do apply of course.

D

Thank you for clarifying that, Davy. Although the AoJ Act is still in force, like I said in an earlier post, the penalties prescribed by the Act are no longer a deterrent against harassment.

[Guest]

Re: MACKENZIE

Thank you for clarifying that, Davy. Although the AoJ Act is still in force, like I said in an earlier post, the penalties prescribed by the Act are no longer a deterrent against harassment.

Yes this was the point I was trying to make.

D

[Dougal16T]

Re: MACKENZIE

Morning all,

I had a 'bit of bother' from Mac Hall some time ago. These are the 2 letters which I sent to them and they vanished into the mists of time!!

Milland Road, Hailsham, Sussex,BN27

Thomas Lloyd
Mackenzie Hall
30 The Foregate
Kilmarnock
KA1 1JH 9^th May 2008


First Class recorded delivery.

Re: M XXXXXX

I do not acknowledge any debt to your company or any other person.

I have today received your unsigned letter dated 29/4/2008.

I will not be making any payment to you.

I will not be calling you. This is because I do not carry out any financial business on the telephone, all business between us must be in writing.

Please provide me with proof of your lawful right to claim any money from me.

You must not telephone me, any calls from you will be recorded and construed as harassment.

You must not send collection staff or any other person acting on your behalf or under your instructions to my residence as this will be construed as harassment.

Take note that any implied right of access that may have existed to my residence and grounds is withdrawn from you and any of your agents apart from Royal Mail, to this effect, for you to send a door step collector will be considered trespass and harassment and you will be held liable and reported to the relevant authorities.

If you fail to comply, this will be reported to the Court, a copy of this letter will be provided as evidence to the same and an Order enforcing your compliance will be sought.

IN RESPECT OF THE ALLEGED DEBT CLAIMED, I REQUIRE:

1. A true copy of the executed credit agreement and any terms and conditions that applied to the account at the time of any default and at the time the account was opened.

2. All records you hold on me relevant to this case, including but not limited to:

a. A transcript of all transactions, including charges, fees, interest, repayments and payments and both the original amount of the loan and any repayments made to it the account.

b. Transcriptions of all telephone conversations recorded and any notes made in relation to telephone conversations by your company, or by any previous creditor

c. Where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my account.

d. True copies of any notice of assignment and/or default notice or enforcement notice that you or the original creditor sent me, with a copy of any proof of postage that you hold.

e. Documents relating to any insurance which is held on the account, including the insurance contract and terms and conditions, date it was added and deleted (if applicable).

f. Details of any collection charge added to the account; specifically, the date it was levied, the amount of the charge, a detailed financial breakdown of how the charge was calculated, and what the charge covers.

g. Specific details of the fees/charges levied by any other agency in respect of this account and a detailed breakdown of said fees/charges and what each charge relates to and on what date said fees/charges were levied.

h. A genuine copy of any deed of assignment, or proof that you have a legal right to this money.

i. A genuine copy of any notice of fair use of my data as required by the Data Protection Act 1998

j. A list of third party agencies to whom you have disclosed my personal data and a summary of the nature of the information you have disclosed.

k. A copy of all account statements for the duration of the agreement.


3. A copy of your complaints procedure, as required by the Consumer Credit Act 2006.

4. Clarification of the date you acquired the debt, or instructions to act as collection agents; what organisation these were acquired from, their registered office, their company number (if any), and what legal title they had to this debt, and what credit licence number they had at the time that the debt was purchased or entered into. You are also required to provide your credit licence number.

I must advise you that if the information is not forthcoming within the legally prescribed timescale, all of the facts will be reported to the OFT and Trading Standards for consideration of the question of prosecuting you for all or any of the offences disclosed.

(Please note :A “true copy” means a first generation copy of the actual signed document.)

All documents should be readily available as proof of your or your clients legal right to collect this account.

Your and your client’s failure to provide this documentation within the statutory time limits means would means you or your client has committed a summary criminal offence.

However, due to your vexatious nature of your correspondence I also reserve the right to make formal complaints against you and/or your client to Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading to whom I may now send copies of our correspondence as evidence.

Please be aware that I am logging all correspondence with you with regards to this matter and will be charging for time at the rate of £17.80 per hour as part of my counterclaim against any action you may take.

I trust you will deal with this matter using all due diligence.

Kind Regards




Yours faithfully,






Mr Rxxxxxxxxd.


....and this was my second letter:

Hailsham, Sussex,BN27 1TP

Thomas Lloyd
Mackenzie Hall
30 The Foregate
Kilmarnock
KA1 1JH 20^th May 2008


First Class recorded delivery.

Re: M 7884833

I do not acknowledge any debt to your company or any other person.

I have today received your unsigned letter dated 9/5/2008. I will not be making any payment to you.

I will not be calling you. This is because I do not carry out any financial business on the telephone, all business between us must be in writing.

It is necessary to draw your attention to my letter to you dated 9^th May 2008, sent by recorded delivery first class mail.

Royal Mail have confirmed receipt by you of this letter.

This letter required certain information from you – that information is still outstanding.

In the meantime, the contents of your letter dated 9^th May 2008 constitute an offence under The Fraud Act 2006 .

The appropriate sections read:

Section 1. Subsection (3) sets out the penalties for the offence. The maximum custodial sentence of 10 years is the same as for the main existing deception offences and for the common law crime of conspiracy to defraud.

Section 2. This section makes it an offence to commit fraud by false representation.
Subsection (1)(b) requires that the person must make the representation with the intention of making a gain or causing loss or risk of loss to another. The gain or loss does not actually have to take place. The same requirement applies to conduct criminalised by sections 3 and 4. Subsection (2) defines the meaning of "false" in this context and subsection (3) defines the meaning of "representation". A representation is defined as false if it is untrue or misleading and the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading. Subsection (3) provides that a representation means any representation as to fact or law, including a representation as to a person's state of mind.
Subsection (4) provides that a representation may be express or implied. It can be stated in words or communicated by conduct. There is no limitation on the way in which the representation must be expressed. So it could be written or spoken or posted on a website.
Subsection (5) provides that a representation may be regarded as being made if it (or anything implying it) is submitted in any form to any system or device designed to receive, convey or respond to communications (with or without human intervention). The main purpose of this provision is to ensure that fraud can be committed where a person makes a representation to a machine and a response can be produced without any need for human involvement.

Section 3. makes it an offence to commit fraud by failing to disclose information to another person where there is a legal duty to disclose the information. A legal duty to disclose information may include duties under oral contracts as well as written contracts. The concept of "legal duty" is explained in the Law Commission's Report on Fraud, which said at paragraphs 7.28 and 7.29:
"7.28 ..Such a duty may derive from statute (such as the provisions governing company prospectuses), from the fact that the transaction in question is one of the utmost good faith (such as a contract of insurance), from the express or implied terms of a contract, from the custom of a particular trade or market, or from the existence of a fiduciary relationship between the parties (such as that of agent and principal).
7.29 For this purpose there is a legal duty to disclose information not only if the defendant's failure to disclose it gives the victim a cause of action for damages, but also if the law gives the victim a right to set aside any change in his or her legal position to which he or she may consent as a result of the non-disclosure. For example, a person in a fiduciary position has a duty to disclose material information when entering into a contract with his or her beneficiary, in the sense that a failure to make such disclosure will entitle the beneficiary to rescind the contract and to reclaim any property transferred under it."

Section 5. defines the meaning of "gain" and "loss" for the purposes of sections 2 to 4. The definitions are essentially the same as those in section 34(2)(a) of the Theft Act 1968 and section 32(2)(b) of the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969. Under these definitions, "gain" and "loss" are limited to gain and loss in money or other property. The definition of "property" which applies in this context is based on section 4(1) of the Theft Act 1968 (read with section 34(1) of that Act) and section 4(1) of the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 (read with section 32(1) of that Act). The definition of "property" covers all forms of property, including intellectual property, although in practice intellectual property is rarely "gained" or "lost".

Section 6 makes it an offence for a person to possess or have under his control any article for use in the course of or in connection with any fraud. This wording draws on that of the existing law in section 25 of the Theft Act 1968 and section 24 of the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969. (These provisions make it an offence for a person to "go equipped" to commit a burglary, theft or cheat, although they apply only when the offender is not at his place of abode.) The intention is to attract the case law on section 25, which has established that proof is required that the defendant had the article for the purpose or with the intention that it be used in the course of or in connection with the offence, and that a general intention to commit fraud will suffice. In R v Ellames 60 Cr. App. R. 7 (CA), the court said that:
"In our view, to establish an offence under s 25(1) the prosecution must prove that the defendant was in possession of the article, and intended the article to be used in the course of or in connection with some future burglary, theft or cheat. But it is not necessary to prove that he intended it to be used in the course of or in connection with any specific burglary, theft or cheat; it is enough to prove a general intention to use it for some burglary, theft or cheat; we think that this view is supported by the use of the word 'any' in s 25(1). Nor, in our view, is it necessary to prove that the defendant intended to use it himself; it will be enough to prove that he had it with him with the intention that it should be used by someone else."
Subsection (2) provides that the maximum custodial sentence for this new offence is 5 years.

Section 7 makes it an offence to make, adapt, supply or offer to supply any article knowing that it is designed or adapted for use in the course of or in connection with fraud, or intending it to be used to commit or facilitate fraud. For example, a person makes devices which when attached to electricity meters cause the meter to malfunction. The actual amount of electricity used is concealed from the provider, who thus makes a loss. Subsection (2) provides that the maximum custodial sentence for this offence is 10 years.
In the Magistrates Court the sentence for a single offence may not exceed 12 months. However, Section 78 of Powers of Criminal Courts Act (Sentencing) Act 2000 imposes a maximum of six months. This was due to be changed in November 2006 and will change if Section 154 Criminal Justice Act 2003 is activated. As at 16 January 2007 it has not been activated so the maximum penalty is restricted to six months.

Section 8: "Article"
Section 8 extends the meaning of "article" for the purposes of sections 6 and 7 and certain other connected provisions so as to include any program or data held in electronic form. Examples of cases where electronic programs or data could be used in fraud are: a computer program can generate credit card numbers; computer templates can be used for producing blank utility bills; computer files can contain lists of other peoples' credit card details or draft letters in connection with 'advance fee' frauds.

Section 12 repeats the effect of section 18 of the Theft Act 1968. It provides that if persons who have a specified corporate role are party to the commission of an offence under the Act by their body corporate, they will be liable to be charged for the offence as well as the corporation. By virtue of subsection (2)(a) and (b) this offence applies to directors, managers, secretaries and other similar officers of companies and other bodies corporate. Subsection (3) provides that if the body corporate charged with an offence is managed by its members the members involved in management can be prosecuted too.
It is now too late to reverse your position, as a report has today been passed to the OFT.
However, I am conscious of the possibility that their enquiries may be protracted and so therefore I have today made a formal complaint to the Police, providing a S.9 Witness Statement, together with first generation copies (taken by the Police) from the documents you sent to my address. My request for this matter to be investigated under the Fraud Act 2006 has been accepted and enquiries are today commencing.



Yours faithfully,






Mr Rxxxxxxxx

I never heard from them again......I wonder why???

Best wishes all

Dougal

[Guest]

Re: MACKENZIE

Morning all,

I had a 'bit of bother' from Mac Hall some time ago. These are the 2 letters which I sent to them and they vanished into the mists of time!!

Milland Road, Hailsham, Sussex,BN27

Thomas Lloyd
Mackenzie Hall
30 The Foregate
Kilmarnock
KA1 1JH 9^th May 2008


First Class recorded delivery.

Re: M XXXXXX

I do not acknowledge any debt to your company or any other person.

I have today received your unsigned letter dated 29/4/2008.

I will not be making any payment to you.

I will not be calling you. This is because I do not carry out any financial business on the telephone, all business between us must be in writing.

Please provide me with proof of your lawful right to claim any money from me.

You must not telephone me, any calls from you will be recorded and construed as harassment.

You must not send collection staff or any other person acting on your behalf or under your instructions to my residence as this will be construed as harassment.

Take note that any implied right of access that may have existed to my residence and grounds is withdrawn from you and any of your agents apart from Royal Mail, to this effect, for you to send a door step collector will be considered trespass and harassment and you will be held liable and reported to the relevant authorities.

If you fail to comply, this will be reported to the Court, a copy of this letter will be provided as evidence to the same and an Order enforcing your compliance will be sought.

IN RESPECT OF THE ALLEGED DEBT CLAIMED, I REQUIRE:

1. A true copy of the executed credit agreement and any terms and conditions that applied to the account at the time of any default and at the time the account was opened.

2. All records you hold on me relevant to this case, including but not limited to:

a. A transcript of all transactions, including charges, fees, interest, repayments and payments and both the original amount of the loan and any repayments made to it the account.

b. Transcriptions of all telephone conversations recorded and any notes made in relation to telephone conversations by your company, or by any previous creditor

c. Where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my account.

d. True copies of any notice of assignment and/or default notice or enforcement notice that you or the original creditor sent me, with a copy of any proof of postage that you hold.

e. Documents relating to any insurance which is held on the account, including the insurance contract and terms and conditions, date it was added and deleted (if applicable).

f. Details of any collection charge added to the account; specifically, the date it was levied, the amount of the charge, a detailed financial breakdown of how the charge was calculated, and what the charge covers.

g. Specific details of the fees/charges levied by any other agency in respect of this account and a detailed breakdown of said fees/charges and what each charge relates to and on what date said fees/charges were levied.

h. A genuine copy of any deed of assignment, or proof that you have a legal right to this money.

i. A genuine copy of any notice of fair use of my data as required by the Data Protection Act 1998

j. A list of third party agencies to whom you have disclosed my personal data and a summary of the nature of the information you have disclosed.

k. A copy of all account statements for the duration of the agreement.


3. A copy of your complaints procedure, as required by the Consumer Credit Act 2006.

4. Clarification of the date you acquired the debt, or instructions to act as collection agents; what organisation these were acquired from, their registered office, their company number (if any), and what legal title they had to this debt, and what credit licence number they had at the time that the debt was purchased or entered into. You are also required to provide your credit licence number.

I must advise you that if the information is not forthcoming within the legally prescribed timescale, all of the facts will be reported to the OFT and Trading Standards for consideration of the question of prosecuting you for all or any of the offences disclosed.

(Please note :A “true copy” means a first generation copy of the actual signed document.)

All documents should be readily available as proof of your or your clients legal right to collect this account.

Your and your client’s failure to provide this documentation within the statutory time limits means would means you or your client has committed a summary criminal offence.

However, due to your vexatious nature of your correspondence I also reserve the right to make formal complaints against you and/or your client to Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading to whom I may now send copies of our correspondence as evidence.

Please be aware that I am logging all correspondence with you with regards to this matter and will be charging for time at the rate of £17.80 per hour as part of my counterclaim against any action you may take.

I trust you will deal with this matter using all due diligence.

Kind Regards




Yours faithfully,






Mr Rxxxxxxxxd.


....and this was my second letter:

Hailsham, Sussex,BN27 1TP

Thomas Lloyd
Mackenzie Hall
30 The Foregate
Kilmarnock
KA1 1JH 20^th May 2008


First Class recorded delivery.

Re: M 7884833

I do not acknowledge any debt to your company or any other person.

I have today received your unsigned letter dated 9/5/2008. I will not be making any payment to you.

I will not be calling you. This is because I do not carry out any financial business on the telephone, all business between us must be in writing.

It is necessary to draw your attention to my letter to you dated 9^th May 2008, sent by recorded delivery first class mail.

Royal Mail have confirmed receipt by you of this letter.

This letter required certain information from you – that information is still outstanding.

In the meantime, the contents of your letter dated 9^th May 2008 constitute an offence under The Fraud Act 2006 .

The appropriate sections read:

Section 1. Subsection (3) sets out the penalties for the offence. The maximum custodial sentence of 10 years is the same as for the main existing deception offences and for the common law crime of conspiracy to defraud.

Section 2. This section makes it an offence to commit fraud by false representation.
Subsection (1)(b) requires that the person must make the representation with the intention of making a gain or causing loss or risk of loss to another. The gain or loss does not actually have to take place. The same requirement applies to conduct criminalised by sections 3 and 4. Subsection (2) defines the meaning of "false" in this context and subsection (3) defines the meaning of "representation". A representation is defined as false if it is untrue or misleading and the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading. Subsection (3) provides that a representation means any representation as to fact or law, including a representation as to a person's state of mind.
Subsection (4) provides that a representation may be express or implied. It can be stated in words or communicated by conduct. There is no limitation on the way in which the representation must be expressed. So it could be written or spoken or posted on a website.
Subsection (5) provides that a representation may be regarded as being made if it (or anything implying it) is submitted in any form to any system or device designed to receive, convey or respond to communications (with or without human intervention). The main purpose of this provision is to ensure that fraud can be committed where a person makes a representation to a machine and a response can be produced without any need for human involvement.

Section 3. makes it an offence to commit fraud by failing to disclose information to another person where there is a legal duty to disclose the information. A legal duty to disclose information may include duties under oral contracts as well as written contracts. The concept of "legal duty" is explained in the Law Commission's Report on Fraud, which said at paragraphs 7.28 and 7.29:
"7.28 ..Such a duty may derive from statute (such as the provisions governing company prospectuses), from the fact that the transaction in question is one of the utmost good faith (such as a contract of insurance), from the express or implied terms of a contract, from the custom of a particular trade or market, or from the existence of a fiduciary relationship between the parties (such as that of agent and principal).
7.29 For this purpose there is a legal duty to disclose information not only if the defendant's failure to disclose it gives the victim a cause of action for damages, but also if the law gives the victim a right to set aside any change in his or her legal position to which he or she may consent as a result of the non-disclosure. For example, a person in a fiduciary position has a duty to disclose material information when entering into a contract with his or her beneficiary, in the sense that a failure to make such disclosure will entitle the beneficiary to rescind the contract and to reclaim any property transferred under it."

Section 5. defines the meaning of "gain" and "loss" for the purposes of sections 2 to 4. The definitions are essentially the same as those in section 34(2)(a) of the Theft Act 1968 and section 32(2)(b) of the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969. Under these definitions, "gain" and "loss" are limited to gain and loss in money or other property. The definition of "property" which applies in this context is based on section 4(1) of the Theft Act 1968 (read with section 34(1) of that Act) and section 4(1) of the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 (read with section 32(1) of that Act). The definition of "property" covers all forms of property, including intellectual property, although in practice intellectual property is rarely "gained" or "lost".

Section 6 makes it an offence for a person to possess or have under his control any article for use in the course of or in connection with any fraud. This wording draws on that of the existing law in section 25 of the Theft Act 1968 and section 24 of the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969. (These provisions make it an offence for a person to "go equipped" to commit a burglary, theft or cheat, although they apply only when the offender is not at his place of abode.) The intention is to attract the case law on section 25, which has established that proof is required that the defendant had the article for the purpose or with the intention that it be used in the course of or in connection with the offence, and that a general intention to commit fraud will suffice. In R v Ellames 60 Cr. App. R. 7 (CA), the court said that:
"In our view, to establish an offence under s 25(1) the prosecution must prove that the defendant was in possession of the article, and intended the article to be used in the course of or in connection with some future burglary, theft or cheat. But it is not necessary to prove that he intended it to be used in the course of or in connection with any specific burglary, theft or cheat; it is enough to prove a general intention to use it for some burglary, theft or cheat; we think that this view is supported by the use of the word 'any' in s 25(1). Nor, in our view, is it necessary to prove that the defendant intended to use it himself; it will be enough to prove that he had it with him with the intention that it should be used by someone else."
Subsection (2) provides that the maximum custodial sentence for this new offence is 5 years.

Section 7 makes it an offence to make, adapt, supply or offer to supply any article knowing that it is designed or adapted for use in the course of or in connection with fraud, or intending it to be used to commit or facilitate fraud. For example, a person makes devices which when attached to electricity meters cause the meter to malfunction. The actual amount of electricity used is concealed from the provider, who thus makes a loss. Subsection (2) provides that the maximum custodial sentence for this offence is 10 years.
In the Magistrates Court the sentence for a single offence may not exceed 12 months. However, Section 78 of Powers of Criminal Courts Act (Sentencing) Act 2000 imposes a maximum of six months. This was due to be changed in November 2006 and will change if Section 154 Criminal Justice Act 2003 is activated. As at 16 January 2007 it has not been activated so the maximum penalty is restricted to six months.

Section 8: "Article"
Section 8 extends the meaning of "article" for the purposes of sections 6 and 7 and certain other connected provisions so as to include any program or data held in electronic form. Examples of cases where electronic programs or data could be used in fraud are: a computer program can generate credit card numbers; computer templates can be used for producing blank utility bills; computer files can contain lists of other peoples' credit card details or draft letters in connection with 'advance fee' frauds.

Section 12 repeats the effect of section 18 of the Theft Act 1968. It provides that if persons who have a specified corporate role are party to the commission of an offence under the Act by their body corporate, they will be liable to be charged for the offence as well as the corporation. By virtue of subsection (2)(a) and (b) this offence applies to directors, managers, secretaries and other similar officers of companies and other bodies corporate. Subsection (3) provides that if the body corporate charged with an offence is managed by its members the members involved in management can be prosecuted too.
It is now too late to reverse your position, as a report has today been passed to the OFT.
However, I am conscious of the possibility that their enquiries may be protracted and so therefore I have today made a formal complaint to the Police, providing a S.9 Witness Statement, together with first generation copies (taken by the Police) from the documents you sent to my address. My request for this matter to be investigated under the Fraud Act 2006 has been accepted and enquiries are today commencing.



Yours faithfully,






Mr Rxxxxxxxx

I never heard from them again......I wonder why???

Best wishes all

Dougal

They are probably still reading it

D

[Dougal16T]

Re: MACKENZIE

They are probably still reading it

D

Morning all and davyb,

davy you are of course assuming they can read........:tinysmile_aha_t:


Best wishes all

Dougal