Violet Ecclestone, part 6

[Exhibit RAE24, letter from Sue Lowe, former Manager of Age Concern, dated 04    March 2011]

1.             On 12 May 2009, Mrs Woodbine and another Stonham assistant, Robert and Violet Ecclestone visited a warehouse in North Lynn where Clare Hanna and John Greenhalgh, had the key to the unit. When we arrived, all of our possessions were lying on the floor. It looked like a big tip. We went to see if the book was there. We could not find the rare book.

2.             After we left the premises, John Greenhalgh and Clare Hanna remained in the warehouse.

3.             From information in my possession, John Greenhalgh told me personally on 14 February 2009 that his father was an antique book dealer.  

4.             After the house was cleared David Clack deemed the house uninhabitable by issuing what he claimed to be a Prohibition Order.

      [Exhibit RAE29, document purporting to be a Notice of Emergency Prohibition Order, undated and unsigned]

5.             The document was a Notice of a Prohibition Order and not a bona fide Prohibition Order. I believe that only a Court can issue a Prohibition Order.

6.             The document purporting to be a Prohibition Order did not have a date and it was not signed.

7.             When I brought this to Mr Clack’s attention, he claimed that he had given me a bona fide document a month earlier and that I was out of time to Appeal it.

8.             The Notice of Prohibition effectively evicts me and my mum from our house but according to law (Protection from Eviction Act 1977, section 3) this Order can only be issued by a court, not a council.

9.             Mr Clack and other council officers claimed that the Council has the right to issue a Prohibition Order.

10.        On the document purporting to be a Prohibition Order, it states that my mother and I are unable to occupy our own house for residential purposes, unable to use our own property for overnight sleeping and no other person is allowed occupation of the property outside of the hours of daylight.

      [Exhibit RAE29, document purporting to be a Notice of Emergency Prohibition Order, undated and unsigned]

11.        Solicitors involved in the case include Hawkins (King’s Lynn), Staveley, Johnson and Proctor (Hunstanton), Kenneth Bush (King’s Lynn), Hayes & Storr (King’s Lynn), Maxwell Gillott EC1Y 0SG, and Prescotts Solicitors (Kidderminster).

12.        Henry Bellingham MP and his secretary Eileen Stephens visited Spire View in October 2009 as a result of many written complaints to him. On 16 December 2009, Mr Bellingham confirmed in writing that he could see no hazards in the property and failed to see why the house could not be occupied.

      [Exhibit RAE30, letter from Henry Bellingham, MP to Robert Ecclestone dated 16         December 2009]

13.        In August 2009, I met a Judith Maxey of Ivy Farm, who claimed to be interested in my case. She put me in touch with Maxwell Gillot and then Prescotts Solicitors.

14.        In September 2010, the Borough Council issued an invoice of almost £15,000 being the cost of the illegal works (i.e. theft, harassment and vandalism).

      [Exhibit RAE26, Invoice 3221 from King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council     to Robert Ecclestone, dated 14 September 2010]

15.        On 21 February 2013 (four years after it was taken), my and my mother’s property was taken out of storage in Dereham and moved to our house.

      [Exhibit RAE31, letter from King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council to Mrs      Violet Ecclestone and Robert Ecclestone,  22 January 2013]

     

16.        In September 2012, Clare Hanna said that she got an auctioneer, Geoffrey Collings to do a valuation. It was stated that there was nothing of any real value amongst our possessions. From his website on the internet, Geoffrey Collings is an auctioneer who deals in books, prints, antiques and house clearances.

      [Exhibit RAE32, screenshot from <www.geoffreycollings.co.uk> website offering           house clearance auctions]

17.        Therefore, I believe that the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, the Baines paintings and all other valuables have gone missing. The Council is liable for their replacement, or compensation for their current value as they had no right to interfere with our property. In her letter to me, Clare Hanna stated that she “...didn’t find any books that have any monetary value...”

      [Exhibit RAE33, letter from Clare Hanna to Robert Ecclestone dated 27 September       2012]

18.        After the property was cleared, David Clack deemed that the electric supply at Spire View was “unsafe”.

      [Exhibit RAE34, letter from Ray Harding, Chief Executive, King’s Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council to Robert Ecclestone dated 15 August 2011].

19.        Mr Clack admitted to me that he was not an electrician but claimed that because there were some old electric light switches (approximately 40 years old) that the bungalow needed to be re-wired as the wiring would be “too old to be safe”. He was advised that he was mistaken and that when the bungalow was re-wired in December 1990 my late father, who liked antiquities, asked the electrician to retain the existing light switches. As the electrician said that there was no legal requirement to replace the existing switches, they were retained. (See invoice dated December 1990)

      [Exhibit RAE35, invoice dated 02 December 1990, showing work completed on Spire     View, including the       rewiring of the entire bungalow by electrical contractors]

20.        Mr Clack refuted this. An electrician who was a friend of a friend came to Spire View in around 2009 and checked the electric for safety. He used an instrument known as a Martindale which confirmed that the supply was adequately earthed, the live and neutral wires correctly connected, and that there were no leaks between any wires. The electrician confirmed that, had this not been the position, the fuses would blow and the electricity supply would not remain on. These facts speak for themselves as there were no problems with fuses at Spire View.

21.        On 21 April 2010 the electric failed at Spire View, so we telephoned EDF, who came and they detected an outside fault in EDF’s wiring which they repaired. Before the repair, they disconnected the fuse inside the house and after the repair, in order to confirm that the outside wires were correctly connected, it was necessary to test the house sockets with their instruments. I believe that a Martindale was used. Although the electric supply company do not normally deal with wiring in a property beyond their meter, this was necessary on this occasion. EDF confirmed the electric to be safe.

      [Exhibit RAE36, letter from EDF Energy Networks to Mrs Violet Ecclestone, dated        30 July 2010]

22.        EDF confirmed this in writing on 30 July 2010. Again David Clack refused to accept this. On 07 September 2010 David Clack obtained a warrant from the King’s Lynn Magistrates’ Court to enter Spire View with an electrician by force if necessary in order to test the electrics. In giving evidence to a Magistrate under oath that this was in connection with a “Prohibition Order” when no court has ever issued such an order, I believe that David Clack committed an offence which violates s.2 of the Perjury Act 1911.

      [Exhibit RAE37, warrant from King’s Lynn Magistrates’ Court, dated 07 September      2011]

23.        In a letter dated 06 September 2011, Mr Clack stated that he was going to attend Spire View with an electrician before he had even been to the Magistrates’ Court to obtain a warrant. I believe that this shows collusion between Mr Clack and the Magistrate because the former has made an assumption that he would easily obtain a warrant.

            [Exhibit RAE38, letter from David Clack to Robert Ecclestone, dated 06 September       2011]

24.        Furthermore, in the same letter it stated that works would be carried out in order to bring the bungalow up to the required standard but no works were ever carried out by the Council which demonstrates that the Prohibition Order on the grounds of an unsafe electrical supply is bogus.

      [Exhibit RAE38, letter from David Clack to Robert Ecclestone, dated 06 September       2011]

25.        In the event David Clack brought an electrician, Calvin Mallet, employed by Elecsure, to test the electrics at Spire View. He also brought several police officers to the property. The Report appears to be bogus because it is not signed by Mr Mallet and nor is it signed by his manager, Mr Steve Pitcher. However, it is an NICEIC requirement that an electrical safety certificate is only valid upon the signature of the contractor undertaking the test.

      [Exhibit RAE 39, report on condition of electrical installation at Spire View, dated 09   September 2011]

26.        I asked the electrician what he thought about Mr Clack getting police officers to supervise him doing his work and I also stated that “I bet that has not happened before.” He said, “No, but I had better not say anymore because he is a friend of my boss.”

27.        I asked him who that was and he replied, “Steve Pitcher”.

28.        After the test I asked the electrician if the electrics had passed the test and he confirmed that they had and said that his boss would issue a certificate “next week”.

29.        The following week, Steve Pitcher issued a certificate but it contained some information which I believe is incorrect. It stated that the wiring was 40 years old (the age of some light switches) and further stated that the property needed to be re-wired.

      [Exhibit RAE39, report on condition of electrical installation at Spire View, dated 09    September 2011]

30.        I believe that there was some collusion between Steve Pitcher and his friend council officer David Clack.

31.        I decided to send copies of the test results to NAPIT (National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers) obliterating certain names to comply with the Data Protection Act. I also sent a copy of the December 1990 invoice as evidence of the age of the wiring.