How not to make a fast getaway...

[ChasB]

I've been following the sad tale of Stockbroker Ian Griffin with a touch of amusement - he's the stockbroker who murdered his girlfriend in Paris. My amusement certainly does not stem from that sorry fact, but from his inept attempts to flee justice down the River Thames. His plan hinged upon some naive assumption that he might turn up at a boatyard to find they'd finished work on his boat!

A few years ago I put my boat into Lindon Lewis Boatyard in Shepperton. Five months later it was still there (while other more expensive boats seemed to come and go /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif ). In the end I lost patience and took it. A court case ensued.

In today's online Guardian I read:
[ QUOTE ]
Ruby Lewis of Lindon Lewis Marine... says that Mr. Griffin had called by several days earlier to ask for the 18ft water-sports boat, Madog, to be pulled out of the water and given a coat of antifouling paint.

"He said he was going away and needed the work done quickly," Lewis says. When he came back on the Wednesday, dressed in jeans, a grey T-shirt and a beanie hat, "he seemed agitated when I told him the work hadn't been completed."

[/ QUOTE ]
<ul type="square"> /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I know precisely how he felt...[/list]
Fact is, he wouldn't have got very far. There is now a room in New Scotland Yard where every boat is tracked with cameras and radar from Hammersmith to The Estuary (and you really thought no-one was watching? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif ) and a Police boat would have met him somewhere around Battersea I reckon.

As to my court case, I tried to say that I'd stated that 'time was of the essence' (which is an archaic phrase with some genuine legal weight in a contract) but that wasn't written anywhere and only agreed verbally, and the judge didn't appreciate that losing a whole season was like losing a year, so the case wasn't a total victory. In fact, under current law, Lindon Lewis could have hung on to my boat for another ten years without completing the work!

So I would strongly urge anyone entering into a contract with anyone else taking possession of their boat to have a written agreement, and at the bottom to write "to be completed by xxx" and to never allow that date to be changed, and should it go over to make it clear that from then on the person(s) working on the boat are in breach of contract.

Have a good season! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[savageseadog]

As you seem very clued up I would have thought that you would have known the law is an ass

What is more puzzling about this case is that he'd been buying a chartplotter and European charts. Did he expect to get to the med in an 18ft speedboat?

He's then found camping in a woods not very far from here.

 

[ChasB]

I was a total newbie to boat ownership at the time. I learned the hard way, and am much more clued up now.

There were a total of six hearings with six judges. Out of that I'd say that two were any good. The rest were shockingly incompetent.

I'm waiting for the day that judge's expense claims become public knowledge... /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[ms1]

Shepperton Marina have now chained the boat up (not sure if that is actually legal but I guess it's in the public interest.) Curious that he would exit the Paris hotel in a big hurry, return to the UK and then (supposedly) plan to head back acrosss the channel in his open speedboat. Perhaps he came back to the UK to deal with his income tax return.

'Not ready' ....... 'agitated' ... I'll bet he was ... I expect many of us have been there ......

 

[landlockedpirate]

One of the papers said he intended to reach the Sunseeker they had chartered in the Med by using his speed boat. Thats a long way in a 20ft bowrider.

I cant decide who is more stupid, the suspect or the paper !

 

[ChasB]

[ QUOTE ]
Shepperton Marina have now chained the boat up (not sure if that is actually legal but I guess it's in the public interest.)

[/ QUOTE ]Lindon Lewis sublet from Shepperton Marina - they're not the same company at all, though they would like people to think they are. If the work has not been done, and hence no money is owing, I don't think anyone has the right to chain the boat up. My guess is they may think that if Mr. Griffin is extradited to face charges in France he is unlikely to reclaim his boat, and they may be wondering if they can come up with some way of legally seizing it. It's what they unsuccessfully tried to do with me, and because of a court staff incompetence they very nearly got away with it!

'public interest'? Why so? It's just a boat. If there were any evidence on it the Police would have towed it away.


Wait a minute.
If the boat is in the water, then the anti-fouling wasn't even begun. So why didn't he just drive it away as it was..?

 

[ms1]

It was the marina not Lindon that chained it up ......
public interest .. yes .... to stop him doing a runner ....

yes it was in the water.. all he needed was the ignition key ... but then without the electronics he had ordered perhaps he didnt feel he could turn left out of the marina and find The Thames Barrier. The Police dont always board you in London so he might have slipped away ... ! But its a very small very open boat to take out into the channel.

 

[ChasB]

Sounds like someone acting on their own initiative then. But really there was no need to stop him doing a runner since that boat journey would have been the perfect trap. Absolutely nothing is allowed near the Houses of Parliament or the Thames Barrier without the police knowing precisely what it is. And once alerted to look out for his 18' speedboat...

Seriously, you try going past there in an unmarked boat and see if you're not stopped. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif We all display those big stickers don't we? And our boats have names? And the police most certainly have access to BW's database, so they know precisely who you are.

I can't say I'm too comfortable with that...