...don't even now what title to put on this...!

therealgirl

Hi,

I am looking for a bit of advice as to what to do about a court date that has come up from an incident that happened two years ago...I have never been to court, never had to deal with a solicitor & am not particularly good with legal stuff...don't really know what direction to go in really!

Two years ago...I sell my car through a garage...the guy selling it tells me he gets €200 of whatever he can sell it for (the car is worth about €2000 at the time).

He wants my tax book, I tell him no way, so he takes a photocopy & my keys.

He phones up a few weeks later asking if I will agree to a sale...buyer wants to buy for €2000 so I will get €1800...I agree to that & tell him I'll be down to drop off the tax book & collect my money.

I go a few days later to do that & find the place shut down by the Gardai. They tell me there has been a load of cars sold without paying the seller...they tell me to go look to see if my car is in the forecourt..it's not.

The Gardai tell me to go to the station & make a statement...during the statement the Garda takes my tax book & says they'll hang on to it as part of my statement.

I'm told after my statement that what the guy I dealt with has 'sold' a good few cars & ran with the money. Most of the cars have been seized by the Gardai but mine cannot be seized due to the fact that the guy sold it to another garage & they sold it to a woman.

The guy must have sold my car to the other garage with my forged signature on a tax book that he must have sent away for...a duplicate or soomething I don't know. (I gave the original to the Gardai).

A few months later there was a 'meeting of creditors' letter sent out to me...I turned up to the hotel it was being held in & a few other people in the same boat were there...but nothing came of it...the solicitors of the garage came out saying nothing had been resolved...Again, I don't have a clue what the meeting was about or what it means!

Anyway..two years have passed...the case was sent to the DPP at the start of this year (don't ask me what that means)...and now I get a call fro the detective Garda telling me where the case is at...

There's going to be a court date in December where a superintendent is going to present the case to the judge...I'm being asked to come & say my bit if I want to 'lay claim' to my car...and the woman who bought my car is being asked if she wants to 'lay claim' to it.

Do I need a solicitor for the day in court...if not do I just go and sit there or do I have to say something...I mean of course I want to lay claim to my car but I have no idea what I am expected to do if I want to do that.

I am waiting on the letter outlining all the legal jargon regarding the court date...the detective Garda said I should get it this week, but he basically read it out to me on the phone...I'll update this when I get it...

...but any help into what is going on or what I can do / will be expected to do would be great!!

Thanks!

drunkmonkey

therealgirl wrote: »

Most of the cars have been seized by the Gardai but mine cannot be seized due to the fact that the guy sold it to another garage & they sold it to a woman.

That does not seem correct, you need to get legal advice, the car is yours. It should have already been returned to you.

therealgirl

Hi drunkmonkey,

I said that when I gave the statement...but I was told that, get this..."They went to seize the car from the woman & she refused to give it up as she had bought it from another garage"...I disputed this in my head too...but what can I do?

Now this court date is coming, em & her are going to be there...I'm not sure of it is just court for my car or is it for all the other people & their stolen cars too...I'll put the letter up asap!

drunkmonkey

therealgirl wrote: »

Hi drunkmonkey,

I said that when I gave the statement...but I was told that, get this..."They went to seize the car from the woman & she refused to give it up as she had bought it from another garage"...I disputed this in my head too...but what can I do?

Now this court date is coming, em & her are going to be there...I'm not sure of it is just court for my car or is it for all the other people & their stolen cars too...I'll put the letter up asap!

You can't get advice in this forum for this, you can only discuss hypothetical cases, you need to talk to a solicitor, I really think the car should have been taken off her, it was stolen property, You still have the log book. That woman or the garage she bought it off owe you i'd say.