Cases - Ragsdale v Creswick

Record details

Name

Ragsdale v Creswick

Date

[1984]

Citation

JPL 883

Keywords

Enforcement

Summary

An itinerant caravan dweller placed his caravan on land owned by the defendant without his consent. Enforcement action was taken against the trespasser and the defendant. The defendant asked the trespasser to leave and sought advice and assistance from various agencies including the police, the council, the parish council, social services and his MP. However, he did not apply to the court for an eviction order. The magistrates acquitted him and the matter came before the Divisional Court by way of case stated. The issue for the Divisional Court was, in essence, whether the failure to take legal proceedings meant that the defendant had failed to take reasonable steps to stop the trespasser using the land in breach of the notice.

The Court held that it is a question of fact. In the circumstances of the case there was sufficient material entitling the magistrates to acquit. Much depends on the nature of the proceedings, the prospects of success, the prospective cost and the prospects of the local authority succeeding in their action against the trespasser.