Criminal Damage proof of ownership

confused50

A summons has been issued to bring someone to court for damage to a property, albeit minor, it was still damage. However, Gardai have now said there is a possibility they will have to drop the case as they have now discovered the owner of the property did not make the complaint/statement. The owner was living in the house at the time of the incident but a different family member made the complaint. Does this sound right?

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058318092/criminal-damage-proof-of-ownership

Someone cant make a claim for damage to someone else's property - they are not the injured party

Peregrinus

This isn't a claim for damages — a civil action. It's a charge of an offence — a criminal prosecution. If the proceedings are successful the outcome is not an award of compensation to the owner of the damaged property, but a conviction and a sentence, which could be a fine, imprisonment, etc.

If the charge is under Criminal Damage Act 1991 s. 2(1), it's an essential element of the offence that the property damaged should belong to someone other than the accused. The usual way of proving this is by having the owner come into court and testify that he owns the property in question. If the person who made the complaint didn't own the property and the guards didn't realise this at the time, it's possible that the investigation proceeded without them ever having interviewed , obtained a witness statement, etc, from the owner and their proofs are not now in order. It's also possible that the summons itself is defective if it names the wrong person as owner of the property - I don't know whether a summons goes into that level of detail.

GerardKeating

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058318092/criminal-damage-proof-of-ownership

Kind of depends, the "defendant" might argue that the property owner asked him to do the "damage", then you would need to owner to refute this.

confused50

Thank you for your replies. The summons states that the property belongs to the person who made the complaint and puts their name on the summons, that is incorrect as that person does not own the house. Would have thought the Gardai would have been more competent in their investigations to be honest.