I need some advice. Basically, the police have smashed my front door in and searched my house. Based on the fact that they had someone in custody, and at some stage in the past, way before I owned the house, he had some car insurance here. Turns out, his dad used to own the house before I did. The police rang me at work, after they'd rooted through all my files, and realised this wasn't the right house , but wouldn't tell me why I needed to get home. For an hour, I thought we'd been burgled!!!

I'm livid, and my partner is in bits about it all. I need some legal advice really, as the police won't say anything apart from make a claim for the door and damage in the hall, and we'll review the claim !

Cheers

Andy

is this you andy?

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic...&mid=0



sorry to hear what happened ... ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
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If someone is in custody then the entry has more than likely been authorised by a police inspector under Sec 18 PACE. Basically it authorises officers to enter property to search for.....X,Y,Z which could be anything really. The property is 'usually' occupied/owned/controlled by person in custody. I authorise these all of the time but it must be something serious to stretch it to your place if their records indicated someone was there years ago. They must have written authority to do it AND a copy of that authority should have been given to you or left in a prominent place in the house. Another authority of access is a warrant issued by the court - again a copy should be given to you or left there.
If this wasnt done that I would be asking questions and either way I would want to know more about this. Contact the police and ask what was going on. I dont normally encourage people to complain against police but in this case you want answers. If you dont get them go to any police station in the force area and complain at the counter. If there is a non emergency number you can phone that - it is normally on the police web site. In the Met area it is 101.
An inspector should deal with the complaint........................but not me as Im very very busy..

Hope this helps  2006 MY Autobiography. With 'toys'
Honda ST1300 Pan European

Gone
Jaguar 3.0 SE X Type
Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird

TJF by the way for anyone who knows what that means.

Scary , yes That's me.

Thanks Trafpol : yes it was under section 18 , signed by an inspector, which I have a copy of. There was no warrant from a court. I'm sure they could have used better information, as there's loads out there to indicate that we now live here and the property has changed hands since his dad did. Council tax/ electoral roll / land registry etc. I wouldn't have thought the MIB could be used as the Only source of information to authorise it??? I don't know whether they thought he lived here,or was Just connected.

I will certainly complain as suggested. In the meantime, it looks like I have to fork out a couple of k for the front door, frame and window next to it, and then try and claim it back.

Thanks

Andy

I do hope the arrest was related to the road traffic act and the MIB database was not used just for an address fishing expedition!

Dont forget redecorating the hallway as will have to be made good afterwards. Was it Manchester or Merseyside by any chance.... 2006 MY Autobiography. With 'toys'
Honda ST1300 Pan European

Gone
Jaguar 3.0 SE X Type
Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird

TJF by the way for anyone who knows what that means.

trafpol wrote:

Dont forget redecorating the hallway as will have to be made good afterwards. Was it Manchester or Merseyside by any chance....

Would it be worth contacting, say, the sun? Offer to sell them the story? That might go towards repairs?
A really shocking story though. Previously..
Vogue SE TD6
Defender 90 2.4
Defender 110 TD5
Vogue 3.5 EFI

I trust you are going to make a photographic record of the damage before you attempt any re-instatement.
I'm not so sure I wouldn't have contacted a solicitor regarding a claim for damages and the submission of a formal complaint particularly in view of the adverse publicity and possible loss of reputation you appeared to have suffered.
If you do make a complaint ask that it be passed directly to the IPCC and advise that you aren't prepared to accept local resolution.

It's just totally wrong isn't it. Clearly the police need the power to force entry to search properties, however this power should be used with discretion and in the right circumstances. Also, there should be a procedure followed when things go wrong, so that as in your case, when an innocent party suffers as a result, this is mitigated and dealt with sympathetically.

This attitude of 'you'll just have to make a claim' is all wrong, and leads to inflated claims and higher costs due to lack of goodwill. It should just be dealt with better! 2012 SDV8 Vogue SE

You certainly need to report it to the professional standards dept of your local police force, they will pass the matter onto their legal services dept and if they were in the wrong you will be compensated.

Like trafpol I also authorise section 18 searches on a regular basis and one problem that comes up time and time again is where a detained person give the wrong address on arrest. At that point its quite common for me to issue a section 18 authority for the wrong address! Not normally a problem when officers go round to the address and the error is quickly sorted but when the occupants are out it becomes a different story.
The PACE inspector is supposed to record the reason for the search on the detained persons custody record so the professional standards dept have something to investigate.

I do hope they get to the bottom of this for you and restore your faith in the local police.

Daz

Since the demise of several "targets" since the current government came to power, individual Forces are now more concerned regarding matters recorded as formal complaints.

Take a breath and record all aspects of the damage caused. Submit a letter addressed to the Chief Constable with all your costs and concerns with a time limit for a response. State in the letter that if you are not responded to in the manner you request, this will then become a "Public Confidence" issue (current buzzwords) and you will make a formal complaint.

They will take notice of this wording - guaranteed.

Fingers crossed for a speedy resolution -

 Where do you go after one of these . . . ?

Avi, Ive read the full story on the pistonheads link - all I can say is I wouldnt authorise a Sec 18 for a dodgy car insurance matter, I dont know who would. Sounds to me that he has been stopped in a car for a more serious offence and the link with the address provided by MIB is the only tenuous enquiry line they had available.
Complain, get more info, take pictures, write down in some order what you remember of the day, keep pushing the compensation. Who paid for it to be resecured/boarded, you or police? If you then claim that too. The inspector will want to talk to you on the phone ( cos we all do as its easier) but get him to come and see you, see the damage, you get answers face to face.
As mentioned on pistonheads, if it was me in your house I would be apologising ( but blaming someone else) and be big enough to say we made a mistake - it happens, we get duff info and yes I have been in that position before.
You will hear phrases like ' speak to officers' or 'informal resolution' - say you are not willing to accept that until you get answers as this is the easy result for police. You have copy of SEC 18, you want police reference number - they must have created a log on the incident, any information they refuse to give you you can apply under Freedom Of Information Act - usually puts the willies up em.
All they need to do is say 'sorry mate, our fault' and pay for repairs.
Happy to assist if I can. Obviously its up to you to decide what you want to do, just dont complain at the same time of day as your door was kicked in cos if they are anything like us it will be the same Inspector on duty. 2006 MY Autobiography. With 'toys'
Honda ST1300 Pan European

Gone
Jaguar 3.0 SE X Type
Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird

TJF by the way for anyone who knows what that means.

The bib are between a rock and a hard place but this sort of thing realy does nothing to help themselves, how long have you been at the address. letters not necessarily in the right order

Thanks All

A quick update. I have received a letter!!

Quote:

On this occasion the search proved negative. However, whether any items were found or not, officers only needed reasonable grounds to suspect that the evidence they were looking for could be in the premises. Therefore it was lawful under Section 18 of PACE to enter the premises.

However, it became apparent that you had been living in the premises since October and had no connection to the offender in question.

Therefore, although the search was lawful and Greater Manchester Police are not liable for any damage caused during this search, due to the circumstances on this occasion, we are prepared to make you an offer of £600 as a good will gesture towards the cost of the repairs to your door.

This doesn;t even remotely cover the door, let alone the rest of the damage

Looks like i have no choice now but to stick a pin in the yellow pages under the solictor's section.

I'm fuming now.

Cheers

Andy