Wednesday - July 31, 2013

in a world where down is up and up is down, travellers are thought of as human beings with rights

I thought the law had been rewritten on issues like this one.  Apparently I thought wrong.  Still, I didn’t think I’d be posting on this type of issue because it just had not cropped up in the last 8 months or maybe a year.  Not so it seems.

A clear case of theft, the theft reported, police powerless to act because they say, it is not a criminal matter but one for the civil courts.

A couple had their camper stolen two years ago.  It’s been found surprise, surprise, at a traveller (gypsy) campground. You don’t say. 

I don’t think I should say too much more or I’ll have us arrested.  Use your imagination and then think the worst. It won’t even come close.

Police won’t hand stolen caravan back to couple to protect human rights of the travellers living in it

· Kathleen McLelland and Michael Curry had their caravan stolen in 2011
· They were delighted when it was found by police 18 months later
· But officers are unable to move a traveller family now living there
· A letter sent to the couple says the police have ‘no lawful powers’
By INDERDEEP BAINS

A couple whose £30,000 ( $ 45,629.70 ) caravan was stolen have been told a traveller family now living in it cannot be removed because it would breach their human rights.

Kathleen McClelland and her partner Michael Curry spent their life savings on the top-of-the-range camper and were devastated when it vanished from the secure site where they kept it.

When police eventually found the 26ft-long Bailey Louisiana caravan 18 months later, its owners were told a traveller couple and their two young children were living in it only ten miles from their home in Surrey.

Their initial relief turned to outrage, however, when the police said they had ‘no lawful powers’ to get it back.
They were told their only option was to begin costly civil proceedings against the family, which they say they cannot afford.

Mrs McClelland and Mr Curry had spent £10,000 improving the £20,000 caravan, including putting in a widescreen TV. They bought the vehicle on hire purchase – and still have to make monthly payments of £250 for the next two years.

Hospital ward clerk Mrs McClelland, 68, said: ‘Why should we have to pay for someone else to live in our brand new caravan? That was for our pleasure in our older years.

‘The police said that removing the family would breach their human rights and that they would have to be rehoused before it could be seized. We spent all our retirement money on that caravan because we thought it would last us a lifetime. We’re absolutely devastated. It seems as though no one cares about our human rights.

‘I have lost all faith in the police. It seems that they have completely let us down and turned their backs on us.’

A Hampshire Police spokesman said:  ‘We have no police powers to seize the caravan and have advised the owners to seek civil action in order to recover it.’

SEE ALL THE REST OF IT HERE

Unfortunately for the victims here, the cops can not enforce laws or rules that aren’t on the books or are not within their jurisdiction.  Sure, to a logical brain we’d think theft surely is in their jurisdiction.  But the way things are here, the way laws have been written, sometimes up is down and down is up and it’s all very legal.  In other words, police hands are tied and I am sure they don’t like it either.

Posted by peiper     on 07/31/2013 at 05:06 AM   
Filed Under: • CULTURE IN DECLINE • Daily Life • Travelers/Gypsies/Squatters • UK •  
• Comments (6) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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