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Mendoza Stewart's pride and joy: His £30,000 classic car



Crushed by the council: the £30,000 classic car that was parked legally

Last updated at 10:36am on 10th April 2007

A music producer is demanding compensation after a council towed away his rare £30,000 classic car - and crushed it.

The Bristol 411 was left legally in a council-run car park when Lambeth officials swooped. They towed it to a pound and destroyed it the same day.

Owner Mendoza Stewart said he was mystified as to why the car was targeted. He said: "The council said it was not taxed but as a 1972 classic car it is road-tax free and it was fully up to date. The tax disc was in the windscreen."

The aluminium-bodied vehicle was also in good condition after being restored.

Mr Stewart, who lives in Kennington, had parked it in a space beside his son's flat in Camberwell when it went missing.

"I was horrified - I thought it had been stolen and went to the police," he said. "They were unable to find it but after investigating discovered that Lambeth had taken it away.

"Someone who spotted my car arriving at the pound said that within minutes they had used a mechanical grab to pick it up by the roof instead of carefully lifting it down.

"By then it was all over - it was utterly wrecked before I had a chance to retrieve it. I have not seen it since. They cannot explain why they took away what is obviously a special, rare car."

Lambeth has admitted liability but has not paid any compensation - even though the Bristol was snatched in December 2004.

Meanwhile, Mr Stewart has been reduced to driving an ageing van. "I cannot believe it has taken so long," he said. "It was a very special car that I bought in 1984 after a long search. I found it with a dealer in Wimbledon. It is unlikely I shall find another."

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency confirmed Mr Stewart's Bristol would have been a "classic" car because of its age and not subject to road tax. It would have displayed a tax disc declaring "Nil payment" - A Lambeth spokesman said: "Solicitors acting for Lambeth council have accepted breach of duty on behalf of their client. The council apologises to Mr Stewart.

"As the matter is currently being litigated, we cannot comment further at this time but we are working hard to resolve this case as soon as possible."

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If we're giving these sorts of powers, then we must also make the decision makers personally liable. That rate-payers will foot the bill for this is beyond belief.

NO POWER WITHOUT RESPONSIBILITY. EVER.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Truly sickening!

Its bad enough when the bastards tow legal modern cars, but to DESTROY a rare classic without even giving the owner chance to argue his case is truely disgusting. In fact, I don't think there is actually a word to describe it.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Gobsmacked

what the hell, crushing car pretty much as it arrived, its criminal!

Stuff being nice, take them to court and threaten bailiffs

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Anti Road Charging Forum

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Bollocks to the bailliffs, if that was my car I'd be round there with a baseball bat

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Get a court date, use the letter where Lamberth "Lambeth has admitted liability but has not paid any compensation"

Demand

30,000 the value of the car

compinsation

Legal costs


When the award for the damages is issued, give them the time they told to pay by, when they fail, send in the bailiffs 24hrs later in to the council main building, and get a BBC film crew to cover it.

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Anti Road Charging Forum

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Did they actually crush the car, or was it simply damaged by careless handling?

If the former: how can they wilfully destroy it literally on the same day yet take literally years to pay up (which they still haven’t done)


[another misleading title methinks]

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

I would go out and find the worst condition bristol of the same model I could. I would then get a quote for its restoration to show room condition and submit a claim to twice that value. That would scare them into settling very quickly indeed.

I would think a claim for two years' rental on a classic Bristol 411 would concentrate the council mind. Possibly the opportunity has been missed, however.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I think they careless/negligently damaged it, and then crushed it to hide the evidence.

I suspect Mr Mendoza Stewart is quite a old gentleman and thats why the council is taking its time.

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Anti Road Charging Forum

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I would like to see Lambeth council explain why they think Article 6 and Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights don't apply to them. In fact, they would be in breach of Article 6 even if the car had been untaxed.

I love Bristols - I'm almost too upset to comment.

Compensation aside - someone should be losing their job over this. A pound of flesh isn't enough for what has been done here - I'd want a head.

The law has clearly become a joke...

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likewise gold and jewels,
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to sink your ship of fools

Lose their job?!

Thats the very least that should happen. This is criminal! Utterly criminal.

I'm overcome with irrational rage!

The trouble with that reaction is the result is always the same... someone is picked out to be the scapegoat, the public is satisfied that it's taken care of and the illegal practice continues as before.

I'd rather see the council as an entity prosecuted, with any compensation paid out of the earnings of those at the top who make the decisions (even if they didn't directly control this particular case, someone somewhere must have given the OK to destory people's property, as a criminal punishment, without trial.)

I suspect it was erroneously identified as being abandoned and then some thicko at the storage yard took one look at the plate and thought "they will never be back for that" and treated it like the £50 Fiestas they probably get in all the times.

Whoever towed it requires lesson in recognising classic cars.. made to pay its full value plus interest and compo to bereaved owner and then hainging up by his proverbials and have his entrails removed whilst still conscious ( am typing what Wildy:neko: hissing I happen to agree with her ) .

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Too f***ing right

Then again, the swivel-eyed loonies in Lambeth probably thought that a classic car that emits 20 times the CO2 compared to a Prius was fair game for crushing. Despite classic cars constituting 0.1% of total vehicle usage.

Any sandal-wearing liberal that goes near our MGB in the name of environmental awareness will have a strange feeling; that being my boot up their arse.

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Simon

Surely if the car was road-legal, legally parked and not otherwise within the scope of the allowable reasons for removal by a public body, then the act of taking and crushing is 'Criminal Damage' and/or 'Theft'.
Maybe reporting this to the police and making a formal statement would result in a criminal prosecution. Failing that, I think I'm right in saying that one can start a private prosecution for criminal acts if the Old Bill fail to do so.
That's apart from the damages claim. I wonder if his insurers have paid up since the car was taken illegally and destroyed. That could indicate why there has been no speedy resolution to the matter.
IIRC, the owner will be entitled to be recompensed for the full value of the car, plus interest on that amount from the day his property was illegally removed, plus all legal costs, plus interest at c.2% above base rate, plus a sizeable sum for 'loss of quiet enjoyment'.
As an aside, does anyone know how the case of the guy 'oop North whose Peugeot was seized and crushed illegally has been resolved?

Too sickening to be replaced with cash alone. They should all have to restore something as thier punshment.

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

I was almost physically sick when I read this.

That was deliberate murder of a truly classic car.

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