Desperatly Need Help

[Barney666]

Hello to you all, I have not introduced myself yet, sorry I will shortly.

My husband was convicted of rape in August 2010, it was against my daughter, who he had brought up since she was 18 months old. There was a 4 day trial at Crown Court, my daughter had no evidence at all, my husband had lots of evidence, I was called to be a witness for my husband, he had several witnesses, I was going to be the last, just before I was due to be called the Barrister and Solicitor came to me and said, we are not going to call you, the case is going so well, we don't want to put you on the stand, and under anymore stress, they said the other side would rip me apart regarding my husband and my daughter, so on their advise I didnt give evidence. The jury were sent out to make their decition, they only took 3/4 of an hour, when everyone was called back into the court, both Barristers stood outside with us, and the prosecuting Barrister said to our Barrister, you have one this one mate, No won was redy for the verdict, they had found him guilty, he was sentenced to 6 years, to serve 3, and 3 on licence, and on the sex offenders register for life. My husband claimed full legal aid for the trial.

After the trial my daughter admitted to my middle son, that she had lied under oath, she had lied in the past to the police.

My husband has just over a year to go, his release date is the 23rd August 2013,

Yesterday I received a letter addressed to my husband from a company called

ROSSENDALES LTD,


Following your conviction in the Crown Court, you are required to pay a
contribution to the costs of your defence representation. The amount you are
required to pay is £7,877.44, this amount must be paid within 28 days of
this order 10/08/2012.

I called my husbands solicitor today, they called the National Courts Team, and the Crown Court where the trial was held, the solicitor said that I would have to call them as they as a solicitors did not deal with this sort of problems, only criminal. So I called the National Courts Team, who told me they could not deal with me as I wasnt my husband, so then I called the Crown Court, who said they couldnt advise me only to call the CAB, which I did, I didnt get anyone local so have to go on Monday at the local branch.

Has anyone else had a letter like this, this is two years after the trial, and my husband got full legal aid, so how can they ask for this sum of money now after all this time?
They know he got sentenced so why sent it to the home address nd not to the prison?

I have no money to pay this amount, I am on benefits, as I am unfit to work, mentally and physically, im on 25 tablets a day + morphine patches. I had my benefit stopped, and had to appeal against it, I won the appeal, I am still waiting for them to sort my money out, so I am on basic until they do so, Ive been on basic for a year.
It seems as one thing happens after another, never seeing light at the end of the tunnel, I feel the same as I did when everything first happened, ive been given the sentance as well as my husband. Ive lost my whole family, we had a wonderful life before all this, and within seconds one morning it all changes, I've done nothing wrong and Im the one suffering the most.

I am sorry if I have rammbled on, and hope this makes sence for someone to help me, it's so difficult to write everything dowm, its taken nearly three hours to type this.

[Faith]

Hi welcome.
Sorry that you are going through this. Out of interest, did your barrister say you had no grounds for appeal? And if so, did you get a second opinion?

As for the charges, it tends to take a while for these to be figured out as I believe the claimaints need to fill out paperwork which then needs processed...but 2 years is a long time, I agree and this must have come as a shock.

As far as I am aware, you need to get legal advice and declare your financial status. if you do not have the means to pay it, I am fairly sure you can't be expected to, so long as you can back up your financial situation. It may be that you will pay in installments.

This is just vague recollections that I am taking this from, I will happily be corrected by someone with more knowledge in this area.

[RFLH]

I'm not sure why Bailiff's are involved, they seem to do a lot of Council Tax debt recovery - have a look at

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/reques...dales_bailiffs

there are a lot of complaints about the way they conduct themselves, It may be worth you genning up on what Bailiffs can and can't do these days - there have been a lot of changes in the last year or so.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk...tary_exposure/

[Casehardened]

Hello Barney & sorry to hear of your plight.

This is a minefield, not the least because the eligbility rules changed in 2011 so the on-line information relates to what applies now rather than what would have applied when your husband was sentenced in 2010.

Bearing this in mind there is some information at:

http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/about_legal_aid.asp

(I think what has changed since 2011 in relation to criminal cases, is the amount of income/capital taken into consideration when legal aid eligibility is worked out)

Coming back to your particular circumstances, my thoughts are:

You mentioned that you both previously had a wonderful life, so presumably no financial worries then? If your husband had a good income or considerable capital assets at the time of his conviction(i.e. was your home in his name only?) then this would explain why he is being asked to contribute towards his defence costs.

His solicitors would have had to fill in the legal aid claim form at the time so they ought to have advised him (on the basis of his stated income/capital) if there would be any liability in the event of a conviction; is it possible that there was an error at the time....maybe he didn't put down all his assets....an easy slip-up with the stress of the arrest etc.

Notwithstanding all of this, it is his debt not yours, the letter was addressed to him rather than both of you, Rossendales have just taken the easy option of sending it to the address they got from the court records. I would be inclined to write back to them stating that he is not currently living at your address and that you will forward the letter on to him.

As bailiffs, Rossedales can only seize your husbands goods to pay his debts, not yours, however if your house is in joint names this could pose a problem. If you are living there with your daughter they would be unlikely to gain possession but may be able may be able to put a charge on it to be levied if you ever come to sell it in the future.

You mentioned that you are currently on benefits so presumably have no other income, but in any case I feel certain that you will not be obliged to pay his debt out of your income (unless of course you choose to make a voluntary agreement to do this)

You really don't need any more stress at the moment, so try to shrug this one off. I'm afraid the justice system will eventually get their £'s of flesh but there is obviously no chance of your husband paying it back at the moment, the month's deadline was presumably in case you had a nice fat joint bank account available to you.

[Rights Fighter]

My husband has just over a year to go, his release date is the 23rd August 2013,

Yesterday I received a letter addressed to my husband from a company called

ROSSENDALES LTD,


Following your conviction in the Crown Court, you are required to pay a
contribution to the costs of your defence representation. The amount you are
required to pay is £7,877.44, this amount must be paid within 28 days of
this order 10/08/2012.

I called my husbands solicitor today, they called the National Courts Team, and the Crown Court where the trial was held, the solicitor said that I would have to call them as they as a solicitors did not deal with this sort of problems, only criminal. So I called the National Courts Team, who told me they could not deal with me as I wasnt my husband, so then I called the Crown Court, who said they couldnt advise me only to call the CAB, which I did, I didnt get anyone local so have to go on Monday at the local branch.
.

I've seen this issue before on another forum. I can't remember the outcome and unfortunately I can't do anything to help at present as I am helping with a trial next week.

I did a quick search and found these forums that deal with those problems

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?308508-URGENT-PLS-HELP!!!-ROSSENDALES-LTD-Bailiff-turned-up-without-warning-DEMANDING-Full-payment-PLUS-%A3153-fee.


And

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...mp-Council-Tax


Register and then post your problem up and see if somebody 'in the know' can help.

With regard to appealing the conviction have you had an Advice on Appeal in writing? If you have been told there are no grounds that does not make it true. Fresh eyes may well see something that could assist in an application. Your man should get public funding for that.

[Rights Fighter]

You can also get help here:

http://www.rossendales.com/rossendal...php/contact-us


http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/crim...ost_orders.asp

You should be able to contact them and you will probably have to provide proof of income (Benefits)



http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/criminal/cds_news_13240.asp

Reassessment

If a defendant has requested a reassessment, submitted a change in financial circumstances or hardship review they still need to pay contributions on time.


Failure to pay contributions on time means your client will be expected to make a sixth payment. This can create a tension between the payment schedule and timescales for reassessment.


If a reassessment or hardship decision is outstanding we recognise that this may be an issue.


So in order to protect the interests of the client and the legal aid fund we have asked Rossendales in these situations to collect the minimum contribution amount (£255) until the reassessment has been completed.


The outcome of the reassessment or hardship review will be taken into account when revising the defendant’s remaining payment schedule.


If your client passes the means assessment following a hardship review, any contributions will be refunded.



Contact them asap and also see CAB as you have already made an appointment.

[Barney666]

Thank you all for taking the time and trouble to reply,

We did have a wonderful life, both working full time, getting quite good money, enjoying the three children (all adults).

I got made redundent in December 2009, while off sick from work, my husband was keeping me before the trial, then after the trial I had to apply for benefits.
I have no savings at all, the house is in joint names, and have no mortgage. I have been living on my own since the day my husband got convicted. My three children will have nothing to do with me.

I am going to the CAB first thing in the morning hoping to get in, I have found the Legal Aid forms, with all my husbands evidence, so I have those to show the CAB, it does say in the likely hood of conviction he could have to make a contribution. (so not looking good).

The barrister did say as he came to see me at the end of the trial that there were no grounds for an appeal, unless any new evidence came to light. We did get a second opinion, just incase the first solicitors missed anything, I just know if they had used me as a witness, we would not be in this awful situation now, I Am the only one that knows these two people inside out and how they think!!!

Thank you all again

[Casehardened]

Hi,

Glad you are going to get advice from the CAB, the bottom line, forgetting the underlying circumstances for a moment, is that this is a debt your husband has incurred, and the CAB are apparently very good at sorting these sort of issues out.

I'm so sorry that you are getting no support from your children, this must make things doubly worse for you.

[Barney666]

Hi,
I went to the CAB this morning I started queueing at 8oclock, I was so glad it wasnt raining for a change) to make sure I could see someone today, all the CAB basically said was send the letter back to ROSSENDALES and say my husband is not currently reciding at this address, you should be aware of this, and send any further corrispondence to him.
Also that it is my husbands debt not mine, and if the amount is payable they can put an order on the house, if they put an order on the house does this make my husband go on the bad debts list?

Would it be a good idea to try and find a solicitor that could deal with this, as I am still feeling I'm not doing enough, or just by sending the letter back, is enough to stop this.


Barney666

[Faith]

What the CAB have suggested you do is right.
They should know that he is in prison.
When they have this clarified they will know that, as he is incarcerated he is unable to pay the debt at this time.

[RFLH]

if they mean put a charge on your house - let them if push comes to shove, but just remember never to move as they will get their money out of the equity or sale price.

I've had dealings with charges recently.

[Casehardened]

Also that it is my husbands debt not mine, and if the amount is payable they can put an order on the house, if they put an order on the house does this make my husband go on the bad debts list?

Would it be a good idea to try and find a solicitor that could deal with this, as I am still feeling I'm not doing enough, or just by sending the letter back, is enough to stop this.

I'm pleased the CAB confirmed that it is your husband's debt and you don't need to worry right now. However once he comes home you will both be a team again & so will need to sort it out.

I would suggest that you write back to Rossendales explaining that as your husband is in prison and you are presently on benefits you have no means of paying this amount at the moment but when he is released on licence next year(they may not be aware of his release date) he will then be able to agree a repayment plan.

They won't like it and may not agree but at least you will be in communication with them and will be advised of their next step. I believe they cannot put a charge on the house without your agreement or without a court order and I personally wouldn't involve solicitors unless it gets to this stage.

You may then be able to get legal aid for someone to represent your interests but in the meantime you may find a solicitor who will offer an initial consultation for free or at a reduced fee.

[Barney666]

Hi,

Thank you all for your help and surport,

I have written a letter to ROSSENSDALE'S, stating what you have suggessted, and to forward any other corrispondence to him, and not at my address.

I will just have to sit back and see what will happen next.

[Barney666]

Someone just posted this on LegalBeagles forum.

'You need to contact police and report this as a fraud.

That letter is made by a con artist impersonating Rossendales.

Rossendales only do council tax, and someone has swiped a list of recent convictions from HM Court Service records, and sending them bogus demands.'


Has anyone else heard of this, or could clarify this for me.

[Casehardened]

Someone just posted this on LegalBeagles forum.

'You need to contact police and report this as a fraud.

That letter is made by a con artist impersonating Rossendales.

Rossendales only do council tax, and someone has swiped a list of recent convictions from HM Court Service records, and sending them bogus demands.'


Has anyone else heard of this, or could clarify this for me.

In the 3rd link provided by Rights Fighter in post #6 there is mention of Rossendales:

For clients that choose not to pay and fall into arrears, we will expect Rossendales Ltd (our collection and enforcement provider) to collect any contributions that were due before the case concluded.

so it appears that it is incorrect that they only deal with council tax payments.

Were you asked to send your payment to the head office:

Rossendales
Wavell House,
Holcombe Road,
Helmshore, Rossendale
BB4 4NB

if so, it was a legitimate request, however if not, you will know from the response to your letter