ES Parking/Gladstone court case - PCN Spinningfields Manchester

[NorthWestITConsultant]

Money isn't a massive issue and I can afford to lose it to be honest.... this is more about the principle.

 

If I take it to the high court and lose another £120 then that's not the end of the world for me by any stretch.

 

The judge summed up that had the car been there for less than 5 minutes,

the case would have been different but because there was a period of grace then the full fees of £100 + solicitor + court fees was payable.

 

I've sent a message to the Parking Prankster through his website.

 

I'll wait for his response. Appeal forms coming through the post tomorrow.

[ericsbrother]

It wont go to the high court, it will go back to the county court where it was originally heard but should be reconsidered by another judge of a higher tier.

 

 

However, the matter then has more of a binding nature to the decision so make sure that you have absolutely everything you can possibly use to hand as that result can affect everyone in the same position.

 

 

HHJ Hegarty who made decisions on many parking matters pre-Beavis made it clear he wanted consumer contracts on the same footing as commercial and that impinged upon HHJ Moloney's decision.

 

 

He made it clear that he was following Hegarty on this and to a great extent could not disagree whether he wanted to or not.

 

If you look at consumer and tort law as set out in common law and eary statute law just about everything that was good has been undone so that big businesses can do what they wish.

 

 

Yes, we have much better consumer protection legislation but that is about buying tangible objects, not being wronged.

 

 

The reality is that the law has moved to gibe a massive advantage to the big money people (commercial contract law is mostly a matter of whose lawyer has the last word- see battle of the forms) and we no longer have a level playing field which the courts and the law are supposed to provide.

[NorthWestITConsultant]

I called the county court and gave them the reference number.

 

They said the appeal would cost £120 and it would then go to the High Court in Manchester.......

[ericsbrother]

Only one I was involved in personally was heard at the same CC as the original and same goes with another parking matter first brought up here.

 

 

If it is one big court then I presume easier to allocate to a higher court rather than wait for a circuit judge to turn up

[NorthWestITConsultant]

So how does that change things on my end? I assume wait for Parking Prankster and then take it from there. I am happy to pay for somebody who is going to give me a greater chance of taking them down....

[NorthWestITConsultant]

I've sought advice from a couple of the suggested avenues.

 

It seems that on the balance of it, it's not worth pursuing any further.

 

the chances of success are perhaps around 40% and it's due to the nature of the justice system i.e. judges will stick together and support each others' judgement regardless of how fair they are....

[Roobear]

Terrible news, sorry to hear you lost NWIT. Massively inconsistent judgements being made by the Manchester County Court - I won with no issues. Judge tore their signs to pieces (following my evidence), made it clear that they were inadequate in the offer of a contract, therefore no contract was (could ever be) formed.

 

So, it shouldn't matter about 'grace periods' - there shouldn't have ever been a contract !

[Roobear]

That said, think you're right to walk away and let sleeping dogs lie. It's not worth the hassle and a higher court judgement could set a binding precedent (so if you lose it will effect other innocent motorists!).

 

Plus...taking it any further isn't going to financially hurt Mr Hargreaves - on 'my day in court' he had 5 cases, of which only two people turned up ! Easy £450 minimum for him, it's a numbers game from his point of view !