Concerned

Sorry about the long post – I’m just really concerned about this.

A friend (X) has been living with his girlfriend (Y) for four years. They are both 26. X has good IT job with a defense contractor, which necessitated 6-month vetting period before he could start. X is on a month’s medical leave from work after a minor heart attack doctor believes is caused by stress. A few days ago ago X decides to break up with Y after discovering Y has been unfaithful. X leaves the house that she jointly owns with X and moves in with her parents.

The following day, Y shows up at the house with her parents in three vehicles and starts removing furniture and other stuff. X calls police who arrive and tell Y’s father (F) to stop, go away and not return unless he wants to be arrested. F is happy relationship is over as he never liked X.

X calls his solicitor who advises removing his property from house (apparently the law in these cases is pretty much “first come, first served”). I go and help him and store some of his property in my house. X goes to his sister’s for weekend and takes some property there too.

Yesterday morning, F goes to Police and complains that X has stolen his digital camera valued at £100. (X and Y borrowed it a few months ago and never returned it). F tells Police he does not know X’s mobile number (lie) and that X is at work (lie – he knows X is on medical leave).

TWO police cars arrive at X’s work looking for X. He is not there, of course, so Police then ask to speak to Managing Director and proceed to enquire about X’s character. X is given an excellent character reference by MD.

One of X’s colleagues at work calls X and tells him that Police are looking for him.

X goes to Police station. He is asked where the camera is and tells them that is either at his house or in storage at my house or his sister’s house. He is then arrested for theft, read his rights and put in a locked room. He is told that if he cannot find the camera then search warrants will be issued for all three houses!

X calls me on his mobile and asks me to search through his property to see if the camera is there. After a lot of searching, I find the camera and call him back. X asks me to bring it to the Police station, which I do. He is “un-arrested”, told that there will be no record of this arrest and released.

I find it difficult to believe that all this happened over a £100 camera. We know that F has a good friend in a different Police force. The only thing I can imagine that what caused all this yesterday is that F asked his friend for help and the friend spoke to someone in our local Police and arranged the whole thing.

I hate to believe that this is what happened but as Sherlock Holmes said “…that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?

I am concerned now that F will repeat the action of yesterday over some other “stolen” item and my family will be awoken in the middle of the night to face a search warrant…

Any advice gratefully received and thanks for reading this far.

MarkCSC

X could investigate making a complaint as he may have been unlawfully arrested.

Lawful arrest depends on existence of offence.
The offence of theft is defined as

Theft Section 1(1) Theft Act 1968
A person is guilty of theft if they dishonestly appropriate property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.

If F lent his camera to X and then asked for it back and X refused an offense has taken place.

However if F lent the camera to X and did not ask for it back no offence has taken place and and arrest would be unlawful. Unless F lied to the police over the matter.

Best advice would be for X to see a solicitor to see if there is a case to answer.

Mark

(disclaimer- I'm probably talking bollox and don't believe a word I say)

Forgot to say

Proving any backhanders is going to be impossible. Circumstancial evidence make work for Holmes but not for the CPS




[Edited by Mark Champion - 7/24/2002 2:16:14 PM]

medders

Bit confused, but at the end of the day , if the police have reasonable suspision that the camera had been taken, they can arrest x.
All these x's and f's make it difficult, but if f lent y the camera, and x took it away and kept it, that is theft.

X knew who owned the camera, and had no business taking it with him/her.

But if it's not being persued theres no problem?

I may have misunderstood the story though.

Concerned

I forgot to mention that this is the same police station that I reported that my Scooby had been broken into and several things stolen when the Scooby was in a pub car park at 6:30 in the evening. The police said that they would be along as soon as they could - gave up waiting at 10pm and went home. They never contacted me again.

I understand that it was technically theft of the camera, but TWO police cars going to X's work???

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Gotta say that I am surprised.

We regularly have instances of £400 radios & other equipment not being returned & ALWAYS when we go to the police are told that it is a civil matter

The law on theft is

"The intention to deprive" so the onus is on the police/F to proove that X had no intention of returning the goods and was doing so with intent.

I would ask a solicitor to write the police a letter.

Luke

Tell them to "Xuck off".. Once again the police play the muppet card.

Clarebabes

Surely their time would be better spent catching speeding motorists

Don't live in Northampton do you?

Dave P

theft is:

dishonest appropriation of anothers possesions with the intent to permenantly deprive.... (o'level law remembered, possesion isn't ownership and there has to be intent to deprive permenantly)

best go see a solicitor... I am no lawyer but it maybe worth x writing to f to ask if there is anything else he thinks has been stolen

Katana

Next time, shoot the hostages...

Freak

British injustice- the envy of the world.