A question about freedom of information and police.

[hypochondriac]

Almost two years ago now I got defrauded out of money by an individual online. He stole £260 of my money and after reporting the crime, I found out he has done it to a ton of other people (over £15,000 in total.) He is currently in court at the moment in Hertfordshire and is messing the judge around by pleading guilty and then changing his plea at the last minute.

 

Anyway, the policeman I spoke to said I have very little chance of getting my money back and that he is more likely to get a prison sentence rather than being forced to pay the money back. Firstly, I think it is outrageous that someone can do that and not be compelled to pay it back. Even if he pays me a fiver a month, at least I would eventually receive my money. Secondly, I am looking to issue county court proceedings against him but in order to do that I need his address. The policeman in charge of my case tells me that they have his new address now but that they are unable to give it to me and advised that I did a freedom of information request. I got the following reply from Hertfordshire police:

 

With regards to obtaining this information we are not obliged to provide you with this as this is Mr A**** personal information.

 

 

If you wish to obtain evidence such as a crime report or incident log then you could make a Subject Access Request.

 

 

Under Section 7 of the Data Protection Act and individual can make a Subject Access Request which gives the individual the right to request a copy or their personal information that an organisation may hold about them.

 

 

On the other hand if you have a solicitor then they could request this information on your behalf and disclosure will then be considered.

 

 

With regards to Subject Access Request I have attached the relevant forms

 

 

So my question is really do I have any other options or do I just have to accept I will not be seeing my money again? I can't afford a solicitor over such a small amount but also I feel it is unfair that the system protects the criminal when all I want to do is get back what I am owed. Any advice?

[Window Cleaner]

Almost two years ago now I got defrauded out of money by an individual online. He stole £260 of my money and after reporting the crime, I found out he has done it to a ton of other people (over £15,000 in total.) He is currently in court at the moment in Hertfordshire and is messing the judge around by pleading guilty and then changing his plea at the last minute.

 

Anyway, the policeman I spoke to said I have very little chance of getting my money back and that he is more likely to get a prison sentence rather than being forced to pay the money back. Firstly, I think it is outrageous that someone can do that and not be compelled to pay it back. Even if he pays me a fiver a month, at least I would eventually receive my money. Secondly, I am looking to issue county court proceedings against him but in order to do that I need his address. The policeman in charge of my case tells me that they have his new address now but that they are unable to give it to me and advised that I did a freedom of information request. I got the following reply from Hertfordshire police:

 

With regards to obtaining this information we are not obliged to provide you with this as this is Mr A**** personal information.

 

 

If you wish to obtain evidence such as a crime report or incident log then you could make a Subject Access Request.

 

 

Under Section 7 of the Data Protection Act and individual can make a Subject Access Request which gives the individual the right to request a copy or their personal information that an organisation may hold about them.

 

 

On the other hand if you have a solicitor then they could request this information on your behalf and disclosure will then be considered.

 

 

With regards to Subject Access Request I have attached the relevant forms

 

 

So my question is really do I have any other options or do I just have to accept I will not be seeing my money again? I can't afford a solicitor over such a small amount but also I feel it is unfair that the system protects the criminal when all I want to do is get back what I am owed. Any advice?

 

 

Well although it's not the same sort of case I can confirm that 2 lads were convicted of trashing my BMW in a hotel car park in Oswestry or something and although they were supposed to pay me a tenner a week for 20 years or something I never ever received a penny because they were declared insolvent shortly afterwards. They did it because they were drunken knobs and had nothing better to do, fortunately the insurance actually paid me eventually after I obtained a statement from the courts that they were never likely to pay.