Default Judgements

can throw up some wonderful absurdities. Here is a BBC news story of a man who, after receiving four parking fines from his local council, took them to court for causing him "mental distress". The council didn't bother to turn up to the court to put their case, and so the man was awarded a default judgment of £20,000.

He sent in bailiffs to the council offices to get his £20,000. After the bailiffs began unplugging all the computers, the council paid up, to prevent the seizure of their rather important file-server.

The story does not have a happy ending for Mr Noon, the man who bought the case, because the council did appear at a subsequent court hearing and pleaded their case, which I imagine went something along the lines of "it is the accepted business model that we, the council, collect money from those within our sphere of authority, not the other way round". The judge, predictably, agreed, and awarded the council £20,000 plus £7,500 costs.

If Mr Noon is quick enough, he may be able to spend all the money and therefore challenge the council's bailiffs to do their worst.

On a ludicrous note, should a policeman spot the man in question wandering up and down any red-light district trying to get rid of that £20,000 in a hurry, he would be able to go up and say "'Allo, 'allo, 'allo, after cunt, Noon?"