Theft of a Motor Vehicle – Caution Obtained

Case study summary

We were instructed by a local businessman who, when a car was parked in front of his house, blocking his access garage, lost his temper and arranged for the car to be scrapped. We persuaded the police to give our client a caution and a court case was avoided.

Case study

Our client was a local businessman and father to young children. He had a repeated problem with people parking in front of his driveway and preventing him from using his own garage.

He accepts that in the heat of the moment, he acted out of character and rang a local garage arranging for the car to be scrapped. He accepted that that he was in the wrong and that he had no right to take the car as he did.

He was very concerned when contacted by the police and was worried about the publicity and how this could affect his business. He instructed our specialist criminal lawyers to represent him as a result.

When we attended the police station interview, we negotiated with the officers and convinced them that, whilst our client had made a mistake, he had a lot of personal mitigation. He had been struggling to run a business and raise a family during coronavirus and was not someone who needed to go through the criminal justice system. We persuaded the police that the right way to deal with this case was to allow our client to pay the owner of the scrapped car the value of the vehicle and to offer him a caution.

The client was very relieved that this case was resolved sensitively and without the need for a court case. Our client was happy to be able to move on from the matter and focus on his work and family.