Lewisham Council's planning enforcement under POCA: A scandal of Post Office proportions

On January 12, 2024, we submitted a detailed Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Lewisham Council concerning its legal department and planning enforcement officers’ aggressive prosecutions of ordinary citizens. The FOI aimed to uncover the council's expenditure on criminal legal advice and prosecutions, with a focus on cases involving external legal firms like Browne Jacobson, exacerbating costs for taxpayers. The goal was to ensure transparency and accountability in the council's actions and unchecked legal spending. Little did we realise, there's more to this story than meets the eye. TheBigRetort...

Lewisham Council's response to our Freedom of Information Act request was unsurprising. Its position was to invoke Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, citing excessive costs as grounds for refusal. 

A familiar retort. However, this type of refusal from the team headed by Jeremy Chambers, Director of Law & Corporate Governance, underscores a systemic barrier to transparency and accountability within local government, leaving constituents unaware of the council's actions and expenses, and the true reasons for its escalating planning prosecutions. It also opens up the shapeshifting grifters inside the ivory tower to some scrutiny.

Exploitation of the POCA System

Lewisham Council's refusal to disclose vital information sheds light on an alarming pattern of exploitation within the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) system by local councils. This system, meant to combat actual criminal activity and seize proceeds from unlawful conduct, appears to have been manipulated by councils to target ordinary citizens for minor infractions, akin to a mugging exercise on steroids.

For instance, Kevin Bottomley, a local DIY shopkeeper in Lewisham, reported below, faces prosecution for storing sand, cement, and timber at the side of his store KJ Building Supplies. The case has now escalated to Woolwich Crown Court, and at some cost. Where the absence of a jury may conceal from the public that Lewisham Council is netting £62,600 of what it alone determines is the proceeds of crime rather than benefits of honest public servitude. Yes, you heard that right, a DIY merchant flogging building materials on which taxes and VAT have already been paid has worked for nothing. One wonders how that fits with Lewisham's anti-slavery policy.

This outrageous exploitation is compounded by the Home Office's Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS), where the investigating and prosecuting authority, in this case, Lewisham Council, benefits financially from the prosecution. Raising concerns about conflicts of interest and a convenient lack of checks and balances.In other words, planning lawyers are furtively going up the ARIS of Lewisham’s constituents in order to bloat their own wages.

Implications

However, there is a preceedent in defence of such actions, Lewisham Council take note. The Court of Appeal's March 8, 2019 ruling in Wokingham Borough Council v. Scott and others upheld the cessation of prosecutions against 11 defendants, finding that the council's improper consideration of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) and failure to apply the public interest test warranted an abuse of process, highlighting the need for transparency, fairness, and adherence to legal standards in prosecuting planning matters.

Lewisham Council's refusal to disclose key information raises serious doubts about its commitment to accountability and the public interest, and fairness in the planning enforcement system. By concealing data on expenditure, recoveries, and legal proceedings, the council undermines principles of open governance and perpetuates a culture of secrecy and distrust. It also leaves the way open for its planning lawyers to make money off the backs of unintended victims. A banditry that is led by overzealous planning enforcement officers, who themselves evade scrutiny.

Conclusion

The journey to uncover Lewisham Council's dodgy legal practices underscores the challenges in holding all local authorities accountable. Despite facing rejection and evasion, it highlights the importance of transparency and scrutiny within local government. Advocating for transparency is vital to ensure that democracy and accountability prevail. The exploitation within the POCA system, with its erosion of checks and balances by in-house belligerent lawyers, is just one aspect of a broader issue demanding sustained attention and action. Not only in Lewisham but nationwide. Lest we witness a repeat of the Post Office scandal.

 THE BIG RETORT

 

The Persecution of a shopkeeper: Lewisham Council's POCA abuses

Kevin Bottomley, the former proprietor of KJ Building Supplies in Brockley, dragged out of retirement, still finds himself ensnared in an unrelenting kafkaesque legal battle with Lewisham Council. His alleged crime? Storing basic construction materials on land and in a container adjacent to his shop.

However, beneath the thin veneer of law enforcement lurks a profit-driven agenda. Lewisham Council, under the guise of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), stands to gain a significant portion, 37.5%, of what it claims is £167,000 of the proceeds from successful prosecution. A crime indeed.

Bottomley's plight illuminates the unjust practices of a local authority operating as modern-day bounty hunters, all under the guise of democracy. This article exposes the unjust treatment of a senior citizen and the dubious tactics employed by Lewisham Council's enforcement officers who place discretion aside in the pursuit of an easily forged shilling

The prosecution

Lewisham Council's aggressive pursuit of Kevin Bottomley underscores a troubling pattern in its enforcement practices condoned by its legal department. Instead of prioritising genuine public safety concerns, Lewisham Council has targeted small businesses like Bottomley's DIY store and local residents. 

However, by weaponising POCA, a law intended to combat serious criminal activity, Lewisham Council exploits its power to prosecute law-abiding citizens, all in pursuit of financial gain. 

Bottomley, faced with a staggering £167,000 penalty for routine business activities, serves as a pawn in the council's quest for gluttonous and shameful profit.

Abuse of POCA

The abuse of POCA in Bottomley's case is glaringly apparent. Instead of focusing on combating serious criminal enterprises, Lewisham Council has set its sights on individuals merely trying to earn an honest living. 

POCA was never intended as a means for revenue generation or punishing minor infractions. Yet, Lewisham Council's enforcement practices suggest otherwise. 

By relentlessly pursuing prosecutions like Bottomley's, we can reveal that Lewisham Council stands to profit immensely, receiving nearly forty percent of the confiscated funds. This ill-gotten gain, obtained at the expense of hardworking individuals like Bottomley, is nothing short of scandalous.

Modern-day bounty hunters

In their relentless pursuit of prosecutions, Lewisham Council's enforcement authorities resemble modern-day bounty hunters and latter-day slave-traders. Call it the POCA triangle: victim, enforcement, profit. #

However, by prioritising financial gains over the welfare of their constituents, it is the elected members, the councillors, who abandon principles of fairness and proportionality by remaining silent. 

Bottomley's case serves as a stark reminder of the perils of unchecked local government power and the erosion of civil liberties via its executive. 

Enough we say. Kevin Bottomley's struggle underscores the urgent need for reform in local government enforcement practices.

Bottomley's fight transcends his own circumstances; it symbolizes the broader battle against injustice and local government overreach. 

Lewisham Council must re-evaluate its tactics and prioritise the welfare of its community over financial gain. 

The council's motto, "Salus Populi Suprema Lex," rings hollow in the face of its exploitative enforcement tactics against a retired man, however, while acknowledging the council's financial needs, it should not debase itself by resorting to predatory enforcement practices. 

This abuse of POCA by authorities like Lewisham Council simply cannot go unchallenged. It is incumbent upon us to hold our elected officials accountable and demand transparency and fairness in the administration of justice.

Hopefully a new mayor may heed the warning: Ask not for whom the bell tolls.

 

 THE BIG RETORT