CO/823/2014 and CO/836/2014 |
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT IN WALES
2 Park Street, Cardiff, CF10 1ET |
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B e f o r e :
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THE QUEEN on the application of DAVID ALAN STURGESS |
Claimant |
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SWANSEA COUNTY COURT CHIEF CONSTABLE OF DYFED POWYS CARMARTHEN COUNTY COURT |
Defendants |
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(1) INDEPENDENT POLICE COMPLAINTS COMMISSION (2) BANK OF SCOTLAND |
Interested Parties |
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Joanne Williams (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) for the Ministry of Justice.
Hearing date: 6 March 2014
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Crown Copyright ©
Mr Justice Hickinbottom:
Factual Background
(i) Claim No 1SA00613: 31 March 2011: HMP Bullingdon: £40,250: claim struck out 21 June 2011.
(ii) Claim No 1SA02228: 6 December 2011: Delyth Evans: £25,000: claim struck out 21 February 2012.
(iii) Claim No 1SA02229: 6 December 2011: Hedydd Evans: £70,000: claim struck out 21 February 2012.
(iv) Claim No 1SA02230: 6 December 2011: Mark Saunders: £80,000: claim struck out 12 December 2011 as totally without merit.
(v) Claim No 1SA02231: 6 December 2011: Danny Evans: £70,000: claim struck out 21 February 2012.
(vi) Claim No 1SA02232: 6 December 2011: Hannah Crick: £40,000: claim struck out 12 December 2011 as totally without merit.
(vii) Claim No 1SA02233: 6 December 2011: Chief Constable of Dyfed Powys and the Director of Public Prosecutions: claim struck out 6 March 2012 as an abuse of process.
(viii) Claim No 2SA00504: 22 February 2012: Ray Goddard: £100,000: claim struck out 27 March 2012 as an abuse of process.
(ix) Claim No 2SA00505: 22 February 2012: the BBC: £300,000: claim struck out 15 March 2012 as an abuse of process.
(i) Claim No CO/4482/2013: The Claimant sought to challenge the IPCC report, to which I have referred, joining the IPCC and the report's author as an individual as Defendants. The grounds were 182 paragraphs long, supplemented by a further 53 paragraphs in his application to renew. The grounds alleged, broadly, that the IPCC failed to understand the police investigation report and the complaints he made about it. In particular, he relied upon alleged perjury by Ms Crick and several police officers in his criminal trial. The grounds asserted that the Defendants were biased against him. I found that the Claimant did not arguably put forward any legitimate public law challenge to the IPCC report or its conclusions; and, to a large extent, the Claimant's grounds were a recitation of the circumstances of his arrest, conviction and imprisonment, which the Claimant considered were all unwarranted because he still contended that he was innocent of any wrong-doing, other than the abstraction of electricity. I found that claim was written in legally incoherent terms, and was not only unarguable, but totally without merit.
(ii) Claim No CO/1405/2013: This claim was brought against the Chief Constable of Dyfed Powys. No challenged decision was identified, and again, the claim was lengthy and legally unfocused; although in section 3 of the Claim Form it was said: "Order another police force investigate my complaints on 8 serving police officers and also order the CPS to move their dealings with the [Claimant] to another CPS office so as no conflicts of interest". That indication of the relief sought, together with the section 6 of the form, suggested that the decision of the police challenged concerned the investigation of the Claimant's complaints within the Dyfed Powys police force. I found that the identity of the investigator was immaterial per se – it could not be said that the mere fact that the Dyfed Police Force investigated the complaints was the source of legitimate complaint - what mattered were the complaints the Claimant made about the police investigation report and whether those had any substance. However, the Claimant's complaints of substance in respect of the Dyfed Powys Police's investigation had been made to the IPCC, who had investigated them and reported. That was the focus of the first action to which I referred. No additional complaint of substance was made. I found that this claim too was both unarguable, and totally without merit.
"David Alan Sturgess is forbidden for a period of two years from the date of this Order (i.e. until 13 June 2015), whether personally or through any servant or agent, from issuing any proceedings in the High Court of Justice or in any County Court in England and Wales against Theresa Crick or concerning any matter involving or relating to or touching upon his arrest, investigation, prosecution and conviction of offences for which he was charged on or about 13 May 2009 or proceedings relating to seizure of his firearms, or from issuing any application, appeal, or other process in this action or in any other action in any such Court concerning any of the above matters without first obtaining permission in accordance with paragraph 2 below."
Paragraph 2 and following set out the mechanism by which permission could be obtained.
The Administrative Court Claims
Claim No CO/530/2014: Swansea County Court (issued 6 February 2014)
Claim No CO/817/2014: Swansea County Court (issued 24 February 2014)
Claim No CO/823/2014: Chief Constable of Dyfed Powys (issued 24 February 2014)
Claim No CO/836/2014: Carmarthen County Court and the Bank of Scotland (issued 25 February 2014)
The Civil Restraint Order
Proposed New Claims
(i) Halifax Litigation Section Customer Services: The Claimant wishes to sue the bank that is seeking possession of his house, for damages for passing personal details to Ms Crick which, he asserts, has resulted in Ms Crick obtaining more than her beneficial share of the property; and harassing him by way of (amongst other things) arson. It seems to me that this claim falls under the old Extended CRO: it clearly falls under the General CRO I have just imposed. The claim is largely legally incoherent. The Claimant has today referred me to a letter from the bank upon which he relies; but that letter does not suggest that the bank has breached any duty, but rather that it has only complied with legal obligations in relation to Ms Crick's rights over the property so far as the land registry is concerned. If the Claimant wishes to pursue the bank for breach of confidence, or damage to his property, he must set out properly his cause of action and proper particulars; and indicate why this claim raises issues different from the claims he has already brought against the bank and Ms Crick. This claim, as it stands, appears to be simply a continuance of the Claimant's obsession with litigation illustrated above.(ii) Theresa Crick: The Claimant seeks all monies he has allegedly lost by the sale of the property. Again, this claim clearly falls under both the old Extended CRO and the new wider CRO. The claim appears to raise no new issue, but it is accompanied by large numbers of documents including photographs of Ms Crick which can properly be described as gratuitously offensive and scurrilous. There is no reason why this claim should be allowed to proceed, and every reason why it should not.
(iii) Hannah Crick, Mark Saunders, the BBC, Danny Evans, Hedydd Evans, Delyth Evans, and Dorian Evans: The Claimant seeks to issue separate claims against each of these potential defendants. Once more, these claims appear to fall under the old and the new CROs. As I have already indicated, he has already sued each (except Dorian Evans), and, again, there is no indication of any new issues being raised. Dorian Evans is the son of Danny and the brother of Hedydd Evans. He wishes to sue Dorian Evans, as well as them for harassment. He relies upon no specific incidents. He seeks only some form of restraining order against him. Without more, the claim cannot, and should not, proceed.
Order
1. Administrative Court Claim No CO/530/2014: Permission to proceed refused, the claim being totally without merit.2. Administrative Court Claim No CO/817/2014: Permission to proceed refused, the claim being totally without merit.
3. Administrative Court Claim No CO/823/2014: (1) Permission to proceed refused, the claim being totally without merit. (2) The Claimant shall pay the Defendant (the Chief Constable of Dyfed Powys) his costs, summarily assessed in the sum of £1,208.04
4. Administrative Court Claim No CO/836/2014: (1) The Bank of Scotland shall be an Interested Party, and not a Defendant. (2) Permission to proceed refused, the claim being totally without merit. (3) The stay on the eviction of the Claimant from the property Llwynteg, imposed by His Honour Judge Cotter QC by Order of 4 March 2014, be lifted.
5. The Extended Civil Restraint Order dated 14 June 2013 be revoked.
6. A General Civil Restraint Order be imposed upon the Claimant in terms that will be attached to the Order. The General CRO will extend to 5 March 2106, if not renewed or otherwise varied by the court.
7. Permission to bring claims against Halifax Litigation Section Customer Services, Theresa Crick, Hannah Crick, Mark Saunders, the BBC, Danny Evans, Hedydd Evans, Delyth Evans, and Dorian Evans be refused.