Car couple are left to foot £71,000 bill
POLICE put their foot in it when they accused an innocent couple of having a ‘stolen’ car.
The PC who knocked on the door of their detached home in Hazel Grove left his size nine boot prints in their newly-laid driveway – and it will cost £16,000 to repair.
The call was the start of a year-long nightmare which has also left Simon and Susan Walker (left) £55,000 out of pocket after buying a Porsche Cayenne from a garage now under police investigation.
The couple have made a formal complaint to GMP, but in a letter in the force says it is not liable for the damage to the driveway because there was ‘no signage or writing that stated that a new drive had been laid’.
Three days after the visit, GMP returned to seize the Porsche which had been reported stolen in Scotland.
GMP put their foot in it when they accused an innocent couple of having a ‘stolen’ car.
The Pc who knocked on the door of their detached home left his size nine footprints in their newly laid, still wet, driveway – and it will cost £16,000 to repair.
The call was the start of a year-long nightmare which has also left Simon and Susan Walker £55,000 out of pocket after buying a Porsche Cayenne 4.8 Turbo for their 25th wedding anniversary from a garage which is now under police investigation.
The couple have made a formal complaint to GMP, but in a letter in the force says it is not liable for the damage to the resin-bound driveway as the actions of the officer were ‘lawful, reasonable, and necessary’ and there was ‘no signage or writing that stated that a new drive had been laid.’
Susan, 52, said: “There was red tape across the entrance to the drive. The officer had pushed open my gates, gone through the tape up to my front door.”
Three days after the visit, GMP returned to seize the Porsche. The couple, who live in Hazel Grove, were visited by GMP after the force was contacted by police in Scotland, who told them they believed the Porsche had been stolen by means of fraud.
The original owner had contacted Scottish police after handing over his car to a Bolton garage, which has since gone into liquidation, to sell. But the car owner had not received his money after the sale to the Walkers.
After the seizure the couple tackled the garage owner, who showed them an email from a police officer in Scotland which said he was satisfied the matter would be resolved between the garage and the original owner in no longer than 14 days.
In the email, the officer adds: “At this time no criminality can be attributed. I will ask he (the owner) holds off on any further action until you have the opportunity to conclude the financial matters.”
Susan said: “The email is dated October 1 2015 – on October 9 the police came to our house, before the end of the 14 days the garage had promised to resolve the issue.”
The garage gave the Walkers two BMWs as compensation for the Porsche being seized.
Susan said: “It was our intention to trade them in at Porsche Wilmslow in exchange for a Porsche Cayenne. But a week later I got a call from an enforcement officer saying the BMWs were going to be seized as part of the liquidation order, and we had no legal right to those cars. Once again we were spoken to like criminals. The next day ten enforcement officers turned up at our house. We also got told by Porsche Wilmslow that police had asked them what sort of people we were.”
The Porsche was returned to the owner, has since been resold and is for sale at a showroom in Essex for £47,500.
The Bolton garage is now the subject of an investigation by GMP.
In a formal complaint to GMP Simon says: “We want answers as to why we were treated as criminals and not as victims, and compensation for the damage caused to our property.”
GMP confirmed a complaint has been made and they are investigating.