Thanks for all your help.

Hi. A pal of mine was flashed by a speed camera back on 2nd September in a company vehicle. He was doing 36 in a 30. Of course the company had to sort out who was driving etc and they sent the paperwork to the wrong address. He finally received a NIP on the 7th December which he returned on the same day. Thames Valley Police have made him a conditional offer of paying a fixed penalty and three points with no offer of a Speed Awareness Course as he was outside the 74 day time limit through no fault of his own. Does anybody know if there is any room for appealing this or if it is even worth paying a lawyer to appeal this. Thanks.

This is very useful information. Thank you very much. The invoice original lead time to build the drone was 15 days and I was still waiting in September. I need to find out what it will cost me to take things further to see if I am likely to be throwing good money after bad. I think I might have a word with my local court to see if they can help.

An expensive way to find out. You are suggesting that it will run from the date of the invoice/payment. I have no idea but if something that is a custom build needs to be made with any potential problems that I had to put up with, maybe it is the date of delivery etc. I will have a word with a different solicitor, I think. Thanks.

Devil's advocate is fine. I just need to know if I will be wasting my time and money. A solicitor suggesting I go the statuary demand route. I paid him in advance before he built the copter and he had problems. It was November/December when he acknowledged that he could build another or give me refund. All communications were done via email.

Those were my thoughts as far as the dates are concerned. December 2010 to September 2016. I don't have his current home address, only his work address. His business no longer exists and he now has a "normal" job. Interestingly he owns shares in patents for the company he works for. The company has put the patents in his name.

I think you have that wrong. It looks more like 5 years and nine months to me... I made the mistake of paying him 100% upfront and then he built the copter. That took him two months and there were issues with streaming video to the receiver amongst many other things. The drone wasn't like those that you buy in a box now with a camera built in. It was to a carry a professional camera that weighed up to 1 kg and was built from scratch. I have emails from him from 10th September stating that he was waiting for parts and that he was working on the wireless USB side of things that I’d originally requested and an email from the 18th November that he had screwed up on the build and he was going to completely rebuild the unit with a different gimbal to carry the camera. Also screendumps of complaints from others who he had fleeced. One for over £5K.

Sorry. I had to delve deeper. The original payment was made in July 2010 but we were toing and froing about him getting the drone to work properly, which he couldn’t. He then gave me an option to get it working or to give me a refund. I have an email from him dated 1st December 2010 offering a full refund. Obviously I didn’t get it. A Statuary Demand was delivered to him on the 8th June 2011 but it was never followed up. My business was going crazy at the time and it was just left. I then contacted him on the 2nd September 2016 after finding him at a company in Kent using Google and he acknowledged the debt again in an email on 5th September 2016.

One question I'd ask is whether you are chasing a company or an individual? - It makes a big difference. An individual who was a sole trader. What paperwork do you have to support the debt even though he has acknowledged the debt? Confirmation of payment into his bank account. An invoice. An email trail where he was trying to rectify the problem and then offered a refund. Screenshots of a couple of Internet forums where others were talking about him owing them money after he didn’t fulfill their orders. A reply to them from his wife acknowledging the debts and begging them to bear with him and he would pay everybody in turn and that he wasn't a bad person. An email from September 2016 requesting a copy of the original invoice and stating that he hasn’t got much money and that he is not a homeowner. His wife and child seems to have disappeared from his life as his Facebook page no longer mentions her. An email trail with Trading Standards in Kent who were going to prosecute him and didn’t due to lack of funds. It includes a witness statement from me explaining everything when it was fresh in my mind. What vehicle does he use to 'sell' his products or services through? i.e. how did you find this guy in the first place? Was he advertising, or was he just a neighbour or (ex) friend? He had a website. Sadly I don't have screen dumps. Thanks.

A far as I'm aware, and I have spoken to a few others who he's fleeced, nobody else has taken him to court. I also only have a work address and email for him. I am also worried about throwing good money after bad but I don't want him to get away with it.

I tried to buy a drone back in 2010 before they really took off, if you'll pardon the pun. I paid somebody over £3000 to build me a drone via electronic transfer but it all went horribly wrong. I never received a working drone and he took it away to get it sorted out and I never really heard from him again as far as supplying a working drone. I've contacted him on and off over the years with lots of promises from him that he would pay me back and in my travels found a lot of other people he owed money to. He has also changed addresses a couple of times. I finally tracked him down to a company in Kent and called him late last year and he acknowledged the debt by email but after more promises have received no payment. I have his work address but no longer know where he lives. Am I right in saying that as he has recently emailed me acknowledging the debt as recently as November 2016 that the debt is not statute barred? Where can I go from here? Is it worth pursuing through the small claims court or is it likely that I can get a debit collection company to pursue it for me after all this time. We are about to buy a new house and the money would be very useful. Any help appreciated.

It is not unusual for a former Sheriff's Officer to be connected to an Auctioneers. Prior to 2004 most were. What happened 2004 onwards?

As the OP I would love to hear the answers to the four questions! A bailiff or HCEO who owns an auction house!? Whatever next. By the way. Nicholas Todd doesn’t appear to be a director of Burlington.

If the judge had set the judgment aside, would that not revoke or automatically invalidate the warrant under which the HCEO was enforcing? The further removals carried on after the Judge ordered them to cease the enforcement is tantamount to contempt. The comment sby Burlington is only valid if the judgment still stood, or am I missing something here which allows a HCEO to enforce on a defunct judgment? Exactly my point. There was no request of a stay of execution. The judgement had been set aside.

Happy to reply to this but I've read this rubbish spouted by Ross of Burlington and I'm not quite sure how it is possible it is to be respectful but I will try. If the HCEO and/or removal contractors are in the process of removing the goods from the defendant’s premises, the removal should cease immediately. Goods which have been loaded on the removal vehicle should be taken into store. Goods still remaining in the premises should remain in the premises. The object of this is to maintain the status quo at the time of the order coming to the knowledge of the Officer. If the defendant wishes the return of the goods already taken, he should seek a further and specific order from the Court. So, Ross, you are actually admitting that your HCEO who is nothing more than a bailiff exceeded his authority? This will be interesting to add to the existing complaint as a representative of Burlington has admitted it. Your "HCEO" continued to rampage around the garden with his mob of thugs for a full 30 minutes after he was told to stop by the judge. I'm sorry. Any sane person who thinks it is right that a group of four people should be allowed to effectively terrorise a young woman with a two year old, pushing past her into the house needs a big reality check. I'm not sure that you have the right case either. The Judge had set the judgement aside and told the "HCEO" that so there was no reason keep any items. If the defendant wishes the return of the goods already taken, he should seek a further and specific order from the Court. I won’t agree with this either. If a bailiff/HCEO blatantly disregards a judge on behalf of his company that company should be forced to quickly return those items at their own cost. If you lot had any conscience, at all, that is. But time is money, right? I will check tomorrow but I'm not even sure that your company has even returned the money yet.