Probable Court Case - Impact on us

Hi All,

I am in Big problem and need help from intelligent minds on this forum.

I came to UK in 2010 on Tier 2 Gen and got my ILR in June 2015. My Wife came to UK in Dec 2011 and I am planning to apply her ILR in Dec once she completes her Life in UK.

I have a problem now. My wife accepted a courier sometime back that was addressed to our flat but not for one of the members of our family i.e. nor me, my wife or my twins. This had some clothes and as I was not in UK she accepted as the courier/delivery guy requested that he was very tired finding the right address. She opened it to check what was inside. About a month back a guy from our floor came that after months of enquiry he has found that a courier was delivered incorrectly to our address, when I tried to enquire his information about the contents did not seem to exactly match what was inside the courier so I told him to call courier company to get in touch with me as I wanted to ensure that I returned the items to people who have delivered to us. Today the same guy said that he has approached the court and I should expect a letter from court for the same. I am really worried and do not know what to do?

Also I want to check what impact would this have on following:-
1) My ILR :- can it be revoked for this?
2) My Wife's ILR application which we plan to submit in December.
3) My Twins British Citizenship application which I am planning to submit by end of this month on basis of my ILR. They were born in UK.

I have seen that this forum have most brilliant minds and has been very helpful, can someone please help me too?

Thanks,
amit.

If the guys address is on the package, just give it to him. Maybe it was a gift for him sent fromsomeone. It is not yours to keep or protect. Why make life difficult and complicated.

Thanks for response CR001 but the problem is that he has gone to court and said I should be expecting a letter from the court.

His address was not on the package it was my address and my wife threw the actual box so not sure what the name was. Also the problem is it was a box with approx. 100 t-shirts of primark and when asked from him he said he has mixture of shirts from likes of super dry etc. costing to around £1000 so were not sure whether he was saying truth.

Wait and see if a letter arrives. If he has gone to court it will be small claims court, it could be theft he is claiming or value of goods, who knows, but you also don't know what proof he has that it is his package. You also should never open other people mail, just don't get involved in things like this.

You should have returned the parcel as soon as you realised the error. It should also not have been opened to have 'a look to see what is inside'. Good grief, what if it was drugs or similar.

Thanks CR001.

Can you suggest my options in either cases that should I hire a solicitor and more importantly impact on following:-

1) My ILR :- can it be revoked for this?
2) My Wife's ILR application which we plan to submit in December.
3) My Twins British Citizenship application which I am planning to submit by end of this month on basis of my ILR. They were born in UK.

1. No, unlikely

2. Depends if person goes to court, but cannot see it being an issue, likely if it goes to court it will be a civil matter.

3. No effect.

Many Thanks CR001.

Regarding point 2 if I agree to pay what ever claim they make will this be civil case judgement against my wife which she agreed as being guilty or will this means that the case will be withdrawn and it is like that this almost never happened.

I know as you said she shouldn't have opened the courier but I will like her to come clean on this so ensuring all my efforts before this gets recorded anywhere against her name as a case heard in court.

Just give the guy the parcel/stuff, get him to sign receipt for it and call it a day. It is not your stuff and you are not the appointed guardian/keeper of said stuff.

CR001 wrote:Just give the guy the parcel/stuff, get him to sign receipt for it and call it a day. It is not your stuff and you are not the appointed guardian/keeper of said stuff.

Thanks for the prompt responses CR001. I will try and see if he signs a receipt too but still there would be cost I am sure he would want at the top of it for expenses he would have incurred for filling the case etc.

If he filed a case at court, he might just be threatening/scaring you. Small claims court is a small cost anyway.

If he doesn't want to sign, get your spouse to take a photo of him taking stuff from you just to protect your self.

Hi CR001, Thanks for your suggestion.

I had a chat with the guy and he accepted the package but also asked for £450 saying he has suffered a loss so I got him to sign a letter mentioning he has accepted package, £450 for loss and will withdraw the case from court.

I have a query that do I need to do anything from my side to ensure that he has withdrawn the case and also during ILR application for my wife :-

1) Do I need to declare this in SET O form or
2) In a cover letter or
3) is it not required?

Thanks.

Option 3. It is unlikely he has 'gone to court' and if you have not received anything from court and there is no case, then there is nothing to declare.

CR001 is right.
I have to add that (as member Wanderer would say), my 'spidey senses are tingling'. Although I appreciate you shouldn't have opened the package or held on to it for so long, I have a feeling that your neighbour is pulling something of a fast one. I doubt very much whether he has (or will) make a claim and £450 seems excessive as 'damages' if he now has all the goods. You could call his bluff and say you're taking police advice before handing over any money.
I wonder where he'd 'purchased' the garments, as £1.000's worth of t-shirts is an odd delivery to a home address?

You really are ready to pay £450? for what? This doesn't sound right from the onset. I am sure you are being taken for a ride. Why are you so anxious when you have done nothing wrong, apart from keeping stuff which was sent to YOUR address? Just call your neighbor's bluff.