Trying to get a guy who stole my car.

Eric Cartman

Hopefully somebody might be able to help or advise me of how to proceed.

So in June my housemate invited some people over for drinks, one of those people invited 3 more people and one of those 3 invited a few people , of those last people who showed up (not known to myself, my housemate or my housemates friends) , one of them decided to come in to my bedroom (unlocked) , had a root around and found the keys to my cars. (I was in the room at the time asleep) .

He stole my car , took it for a joyride and did 11,500 euro worth of mechanical damage to it.
He also attempted to steal another one of my cars which had a gearbox problem but in the process caused about 1000 euro worth of body damage.
Stole a pair of sunglasses and did some spray paint damage to the house.

Afterwards my housemate got the guys name through a 3rd party , both I and my housemate gave statements to the gardai , they brought the guy in for questioning but he declined to give a statement.

The other people who were present and awake when this incident happened have also declined to give statements (siting fear of what the thief may do to them, but not siting this fear to gardai)

The guy has been bragging round the town about what he did and I am 100% sure that he is the one who did it.

Gardai have thus far been unable to proceed as they have little to go on.

I got the guys address and on Christmas Eve I dropped up an invoice for the damages in the hope that his parents may be decent people, but it turns out his mother is just as scummy as the guy who did it. He accepted the invoice without contest which further proves to me that it is definitely him.

Does anyone have any suggestion as to how to proceed. I would obviously like him to end up in prison and buy a load of bus stop ad's so that everyone in the town knows he's a complete scumbag but being realistic I would just like as much money back as possible and to know how far I can go with telling people what he has done.

TLDR : guy robbed my car, I know he did it but nobody who witnessed it will give a statement, has been bragging round the town about doing it, I'd like to ruin his life as much as possible for as long as possible.

Pat Mustard

Eric Cartman wrote: »

Does anyone have any suggestion as to how to proceed.

On the criminal side, write a letter to the Gardai to follow up. Follow up with the Superintendent if necessary. Maybe there is little evidence to incriminate him, who knows. If somebody overhears him bragging and is willing to make a statement, bring them to the guards.

On the civil side, people who do this kind of thing tend to be people with little to lose. If he has assets, see if you can build some sort of evidence against him. The sad reality is that most of these guys have no assets so they are rarely worth pursuing.

Make sure to contact your insurance company regarding the theft and damage.

And make other living arrangements. You have a very bad housemate who took no precautions to stop such a person entering your home.

Eric Cartman

Pat Mustard wrote: »

On the criminal side, write a letter to the Gardai to follow up. Follow up with the Superintendent if necessary. Maybe there is little evidence to incriminate him, who knows. If somebody overhears him bragging and is willing to make a statement, bring them to the guards.

On the civil side, people who do this kind of thing tend to be people with little to lose. If he has assets, see if you can build some sort of evidence against him. The sad reality is that most of these guys have no assets so they are rarely worth pursuing.

Make sure to contact your insurance company regarding the theft and damage.

And make other living arrangements. You have a very bad housemate who took no precautions to stop such a person entering your home.

Cheers for all this.

Sadly the insurance company declined payout as the damage done was mechanical and the car wasn't crashed. I had to pay everything out of my own pocket

mickdw

I'd be tempted to get the most barely legal debt recovery agency to take on your case.
scumbags to deal with scumbag.

Eric Cartman

mickdw wrote: »

I'd be tempted to get the most barely legal debt recovery agency to take on your case.
scumbags to deal with scumbag.

This is my current line of thinking.

Anyone any clues where I stand on libel , as in I truly believe that he has stolen my car, I received that information from somebody else who I don't know personally but have evidence of where this information came from (text messages) . If I were to tell people or put it in print (leaflets through everyone in his estates letterbox etc.. with a photo of him and an explanation of what he did, what would be the chances of it coming back on me ?

whomitconcerns

viper debt collections used to be good...

rizzee

Up the mountains before it starts to snow!!

I hope you get it sorted. All the best.

Samuel T. Cogley

Eric Cartman wrote: »

This is my current line of thinking.

Anyone any clues where I stand on libel , as in I truly believe that he has stolen my car, I received that information from somebody else who I don't know personally but have evidence of where this information came from (text messages) . If I were to tell people or put it in print (leaflets through everyone in his estates letterbox etc.. with a photo of him and an explanation of what he did, what would be the chances of it coming back on me ?

Are you prepared to hire legal counsel? If not I personally wouldn't defame him. Even winning can be expensive.

cursai

I'm presuming you are covered for fire and theft. The car was stolen and now the insurance won't pay out???? I'm confused.

Claw Hammer

cursai wrote: »

I'm presuming you are covered for fire and theft. The car was stolen and now the insurance won't pay out???? I'm confused.

The car is back, so from an insurance point of view there is no loss. If the car had never come back, the insurance would have paid out the market value of the car. The o/p should try and have the scumbag taped bragging about the theft.

1world1people

confront him and get into an argument, have a tape recorder on you and if possible someone videoing him from a distance. make sure it is just you and him. worth a try if no other evidence is coming forward.

http://dolores-maxwell.com/audio_recording_comments.php

Boards.ie disassociates itself from above advice

Eric Cartman

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Are you prepared to hire legal counsel? If not I personally wouldn't defame him. Even winning can be expensive.

well I probably need counsel but finding out if saying things that I know to be and are completely true will construe defaming him, its more a question of where the burden of proof lies for these claims. If he has to prove the claim is false then I'm safe, If I have to prove its true then its questionable as it will come down to people who will give statements on my behalf.

Claw Hammer

Eric Cartman wrote: »

well I probably need counsel but finding out if saying things that I know to be and are completely true will construe defaming him, its more a question of where the burden of proof lies for these claims. If he has to prove the claim is false then I'm safe, If I have to prove its true then its questionable as it will come down to people who will give statements on my behalf.

You would either have to prove it is true or privileged to have a defence.

nuac

Mod
Thread closed for mod review


Mod

Following mods' review thread now re-opened for general discussion. Practical guidance short of legal advice may be suggested.