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Judge: Bailiffs hounded me into giving them £500
Anna Davis, Evening Standard08.02.08
A retired judge has told how he and his wife were confronted on their doorstep by two "wretched" bailiffs and forced to hand over cash.
Anthony Lewisohn, 82, said he was made to give them more than £500 after they threatened to take his car.
He said he had no warning before their visit and called for greater transparency in the way bailiffs work.
The men arrived at Mr Lewisohn's home in Cobham and told him he owed £512.07 in parking fines.
He said they had no proof of where or when he had committed an offence, or proof that letters asking for payment were sent to him. He was also not told which local authority issued the fines and hired the bailiffs.
The former judge said: "The whole thing was extremely unnerving and me and my wife were quite upset. These wretched bailiffs really need their tactics exposed.
"They appeared on my doorstep - one big lout and another little guy with lots of rings on all his fingers - and said they were taking away my car.
"I said, 'What are you talking about?' In the end there was no alternative and I had to hand over a cheque for £512."
He complained to police, who said they could not do anything because the bailiffs did not threaten violence.
Mr Lewisohn's wife Lone said: "It was very distressing. I asked, 'Where were we parked?' but they didn't know - they presumed we were guilty. It is like a police state, it is scary."
The couple, who own a Saab 9000, think letters demanding payment could have been sent to the house in Oxshott, near Leatherhead, from which they moved three years ago.
The bailiffs first called at their former address and spoke to neighbours to find out where they lived now.
Mr Lewisohn, who worked on the South-East area court circuit for 16 years, said: "This should be a matter of common sense - they knew I must have moved and hadn't received the reminder.
"I blustered and could have handled it better. The police said they have dozens of cases of bailiffs turning up on people's doorsteps demanding payment for parking tickets." The couple are now trying to find out who issued the fines and hired the bailiffs, so they can complain.
Mr Lewisohn said: "The men gave me a form with an address in the Midlands on it. I wrote to the address asking for the relevant local authority in charge of the parking tickets, but haven't heard back yet."
The case comes after Mohammed Amir Ali, 34, of Manchester, was wrongly issued with £10,000 in motoring fines after fraudsters stole his ID. He had his car clamped and was forced to pay hundreds of pounds to bailiffs.
Reader views (9)
My experience of bailiffs is benign in comparison, but my health suffered. Not only did the council get the wrong owner of the car (I had sold it in exchange, and been told by garage it would go to the scrapheap), but they sent the threatening letter to my previous address, with no preliminary letters. Maybe I should have let the owner of my ex property to deal with it - he was a retired chief of council! I warned him, and dealt with the bailiffs via email. Threatening letters kept arriving. I phoned the DVLA. Apparently, even though I'd notified them that I'd sold the car, the person using it must do so as well. I had to supply proof that it was not my car, which I did finally. I had never been in the area in question. Then, another threatening letter arrived for a second offence involving the old car. The councils are too eager to call in the bailiffs, before they have checked the facts. The whole system should be scrapped, so should clamping. Too many errors.
- Sybil, Maidenhead, UK
It is actually illegal to demand money without proof of the debt or valid ID, any attempt to seize vehicles or property without proof is then attempted theft... "Reasonable" force ensues, go for the biggest guy with all you have.
- Ice, Wales
Reminds of my recent run in with TfL re a congestion charge fine. The guy who lived in my flat before me hadn't re registered his car at his new address. I started receiving letters for him fron TfL back in August which I returned unopened but later I could see that they were red so I opened as I was afraid that bailiffs would call. I phoned TfL again and again receiving different advice from people I spoke to there, I call DVLA to tell them that the car was no longer at my address but TfL STILL referred the fine to bailiffs... Some organisations need to sort out their protocol with regard to how they deal with these situations...
- Headhunter, London
So if a judge cannot handle a visit from Bailiffs, and can be forced to hand over £500+ What chance do I stand!.... Better still what chance does the proverbial little old lady stand these days?
- Dene Wood, Grays, Essex,
Sorry Mlud but its more the pity that you were not put inside
- Nickbar, Nic, Boston , USA, ex pat.
It's stretching credibility a bit for a judge to fail to understand how bailiffs work. After all they are part of the justice system for which he used to work. I think this is a case of one law for the rich and influential - would this story even feature if he wasn't a retired judge but a retired shop worker? - and another for the rest of us. If you get a parking fine, you should pay - like we all have to. If you don't pay up, you should lose your car - just like the rest of us. Oh - and the 'I've moved, didn't get the letters' excuse has been done before. Think of something original.
- Colin, London
Great stuff, its good to see some on the receiving end of their own system, and low and behold, because its a posh guy, something must be done about it. Welcome to the real world.
- Good Man, London
Well, at least mi'lord knows what it feels like to live in the real world and be on the end of receiving end of the justice he no doubt at some time in his career has handed down. Mi'lord should know...claiming not to receive something in the post is not a defence... He should have a word with his mate who signed the bailiffs warrant.
- Gary, SurreyUK
Sounds like poetic justice to me.
- Jimbob, Kensington
