Episode 2 The Sheriffs Are Coming

-Meet the sheriffs.

-Let's introduce ourselves.

I'm a High Court enforcement officer. We're here to execute a writ.

They're the men whose job it is to get you your money back.

It's an arrestable offence to stop me.

They're High Court enforcement officers, charged by law

-to recover what a court says is rightfully yours.

-I'm not waiting any more.

If you've been ripped off and don't know where to turn...

I'm ordered to seize goods to clear this debt, which would mean clearing this place out.

..if you've been to court but still not been paid what you're owed...

-Why don't you tell me who you are?

-This is an absolute crock!

I've seized your car.

Let us through the door or we'll go through the window.

..it's time to call the sheriffs.

We've collected 42 grand.

Coming up,

Clive Nichol paid £2,700 for a car, which he says was dangerous.

The kids could've been involved in a serious accident. They could've been killed.

-It doesn't say that!

-The sheriffs' epic run-in with the dealer that sold it

goes beyond anything they expected.

-Don't push! Don't push! Don't push!

-Go on, run me over.

Kath Parton was promised a new driveway.

She was left with a pile of bricks.

It is rubbish. My savings have all deteriorated because of it.

Can the sheriffs get her her money back?

It'll be a case of seizing the vehicles, whatever we can.

And the owner of this pub has lost it to squatters.

Can the sheriffs get the uninvited guests out

and the rightful owner back in?

-Enforcement officers!

-Up to the first floor. First floor.

High Court Enforcement Officers, commonly known as sheriffs,

enforce writs at all sorts of businesses,

but there's one trade they visit more than most -

car dealers.

You need to get him on the phone. If this isn't paid, we'll remove several of your vehicles.

From small-ad dealers, to local garages and out-of-town forecourts...

I'm not waiting any more.

..they represent some of the trickiest assignments they take on.

This morning, enforcement officers Marc Newton and Tony Smith

are in their van and on their way to just such a venue.

We're looking for a company called Sandhurst Bridge Cars Limited.

We've actually got two writs at this address.

We've got one for Sandhurst Bridge Cars Ltd

and one for Sami Alsilawi,

who's the director of the company.

They're heading there on behalf of two customers,

who both bought faulty cars from the garage

and thought the service so bad, they went to court over it.

One of them is Clive Nichol.

He and his family came back to live in the UK from New Zealand

after the tragedy of the Christchurch earthquake destroyed their life there.

We lost our house, all our contents, most of our contents were ruined.

The aftershocks kept happening.

A few months later,

there was another magnitude-6 earthquake

and that was just too much for my wife and children

and we came back to England the next day.

Arriving in the UK, he urgently needed a car to provide transport for his family.

He hoped buying one would help the family get back on track with their new life in England.

Instead, the car and the company that sold it to him

have caused him so many problems,

he went to court.

Now the sheriffs will try to get his money back

for a car that he says put his family in danger.

It made us fearful that the kids could've been involved in a serious accident.

They could've been killed, my wife, too.

Looking around for a vehicle that would transport his family,

he came across a Volkswagen Touran at Sandhurst Bridge Cars.

The car seemed in good condition.

And with a warranty to boot,

Clive was happy to hand garage-owner Sami Alsilawi

the £2,700 he wanted

and drive it away.

The Volkswagen Touran drove OK for about three weeks

and then the automatic gearbox failed.

It just had no power and wouldn't engage any gears.

Deeply unhappy with the intermittent gearbox problem,

the Nichols went back to the garage director

to demand he address it.

The garage boss offered to exchange it for another car -

a SEAT Alhambra.

But the SEAT turned out to be even worse.

We realised the Alhambra had technical problems pretty much straight away.

It would lose power going up hills,

the heating didn't work, it would fill with water.

We took it to a SEAT garage

and they spent half a day looking at all the problems,

and there's still more they didn't have time to investigate.

Most importantly, the front wheel was really, really wobbly.

A passing motorist flagged my wife down in panic

because it was about to fall off.

That car was dangerous.

We could've had a serious accident.

Both Clive and his wife tried to get back in touch with Mr Alsilawi.

After a while, he refused to answer their calls

and would only communicate by text message.

He accused us of breaking both cars and driving the Alhambra to distraction point.

That was his words.

We figured, "What can we do?"

They took Sandhurst Bridge Cars' director Sami Alsilawi to court.

He didn't contest the case

and the court ordered him to pay the Nichols £3,300.

But since then, no money's been paid.

Their only hope of getting their money back

now rests with the sheriffs.

That's Sandhurst Bridge Cars.

Arriving at the address, Marc and Tony are enforcing two writs today -

Clive's, which is in Sami Alsilawi's name personally,

and a second one, also from a disgruntled customer,

but in the company's name - Sandhurst Bridge Cars.

It's time for Marc and Tony to make their presence felt.

All right? Is the guv'nor about?

-We've got a writ for Sandhurst Cars, Bridge Cars Ltd.

-Yes.

-Are you the owner?

-No.

-No.

-You just work here. Is he about?

-At the moment, no here. Just...

Can you get him on the phone?

We're from the High Court, tell him. Sheriffs from the High Court, yes?

The employee gets the garage boss on the phone for Marc and Tony.

-Marc, here.

-Hello?

It's about a High Court writ that's been issued.

The man on the phone claims to be the boss of a different company, Yorktown Motors,

which he says took over the premises three weeks ago.

If this is true, it's game over for the enforcement officers.

They can only demand money or seize goods from the company named in their writ.

Marc's been using his legal powers to examine any documents relating to a writ,

and he's already found evidence

that suggests all might not be what it seems.

So, what's it called now? Yorktown.

So, why is there card payments, credit card slips,

for Sandhurst Bridge Motors?

It was done on the 18th. That's last week.

There seems to be a lot of stuff laying around for them, considering they're not here.

They have got their stuff here because I'm seeing it in front of me.

Marc asks to see some official documentation

that the new business is operating there.

Have you got the Companies House certificate, then?

The guy's pointing to something.

Where's your certificate?

Yes, I've... Right, I've got the Yorktown Motors sign.

Just because there's a sign here, it doesn't mean it's a different company!

Undeterred, the Yorktown Motors boss continues to insist his is a new business

and that the two debts are therefore nothing to do with him.

But Marc's undeterred, too.

If I find out it is something to do with you, we will be charging you waiting time.

I'm not leaving the building, OK?

All right, thank you. Bye-bye.

The sheriffs continue looking for evidence

that there are assets on site in the name of Sandhurst Bridge Cars

or its director, Sami Alsilawi.

If they can find any, the assets can be seized and sold

to get Clive the money he's owed.

Keep digging through them drawers, Tone.

The two continue their search for clues.

The last transaction was seven days ago,

done from Sandhurst Bridge Cars.

He said they went three weeks ago, but they've left their card machine. It doesn't add up.

Then Marc checks the 'Sandhurst Bridge Cars' website and gets a surprise.

I checked it half an hour before we came here and it was 'Sandhurst Bridge Cars'.

I've just gone on it and it now says Yorktown Motors.

It's exactly the same website, same number and everything, but the heading is changed.

With the evidence mounting,

Marc's got some awkward questions for the employee left holding the fort.

Hang on. This... This was done three days ago.

This was done just over a week ago - again, same address,

card machine, which is that card machine.

Are you telling me he's done it from another address, brought everything back here and left it here?

Somebody's telling lies, aren't they? Let's be honest.

What we're going to do is seize a car,

which means we're going to take a car away to cover this debt.

Yes?

No, no, no!

We don't leave it today, unfortunately.

Despite everything he has found,

Marc's still looking for definite proof

that any of the cars on site are registered to Sandhurst Bridge Cars

or its director, Sami Alsilawi.

-Er...

-The black Audi out there...

YH05, isn't it, something like that?

-YH03?

-Yes.

There you are... "Bought at British Car Auctions by Sami Alsilawi

-"on the 23rd of the 11th, '12."

-OK.

Bingo! A receipt for a car,

bought by Sami Alsilawi four days ago.

..it's sitting out there.

Having found the bargaining chip they were after,

the sheriffs throw down the gauntlet.

Unless they get their money, this car will be leaving with the sheriffs.

And, as an extra precaution,

they block the forecourt entrance, too.

Unsurprisingly, the boss of Yorktown Motors is soon back on the phone.

This time, he's got a completely new story.

He now admits he does know Sami Alsilawi.

You told me you was nothing to do with him, and you had nothing to do with the old company.

He also admits that he bought some of the vehicles on the forecourt

from Sandhurst Bridge Cars just a week ago,

but the dates just aren't adding up for Marc.

How did you buy the car off him three days before he bought the car?

It's gone from three weeks,

to three... to one week,

and now we're saying three days, is that what you're telling me?

You're getting confused between three weeks and three days.

The call ends with the Yorktown Motors boss still claiming,

despite his confusion over the dates,

that he did buy the cars from Mr Alsilawi.

He says he paid in cash,

so unfortunately there's no paper trail for the deal.

Why don't you ring him up? Obviously you know him!

A fired-up Marc's attention turns back to the luckless employee,

stuck in the office with him.

He continues to protest about Marc seizing the Audi.

Receipts for cars that were bought four days ago

in the name of the director for Sandhurst Bridge Cars, OK?

I have a writ for the director of Sandhurst Bridge Cars Ltd.

I'm seizing that car.

Do you want me to keep going through these files?

That was bought three days ago by Sandhurst Bridge Cars.

That was sold by Sandhurst Bridge Cars.

-Do you want me to keep going or do you want to get the guy here?

-No, no, I...!

The employee leaves the portacabin to make another phone call,

as Marc continues his detective work.

What have you found now, Poirot?!

It's like Morse and Lewis, isn't it?

That's the MOT and the logbook for that.

Try that. I think that's the keys to the Audi. If it is, put them in your pocket.

-LOCK BLEEPS

-Yep.

With the car keys in hand

and still no sign of the boss of either Sandhurst Bridge Cars or Yorktown Motors,

it's time for an ultimatum.

-We're going to have to call the tow truck.

-No, no.

-He's coming. He's coming.

-OK.

If he comes and pays, he's going to have to pay for the tow truck.

It's an Audi A4 Convertible.

I've got the keys, got the logbook, got the MOT.

It's a race now, who turns up first -

him or the tow truck!

Later, we'll find out what happens when boss Sami Alsilawi arrives,

determined to keep hold of his Audi.

That is your car, I don't care what you say, and it's going.

It's not going! I sold it!

Ready for action.

Let's go, then.

If you win a court judgment for over £600 but don't get paid,

all isn't lost.

For a fee of £60,

your judgment can be transferred up to the High Court for enforcement.

I'm an enforcement officer. We've got a High Court writ.

The sheriffs will then go into bat on your behalf and enforce the writ on the debtor.

Would you send somebody down?

Their job is to get you back what the court says is rightfully yours.

It is a last resort, to force entry. Hopefully, they'll open the door.

If they are successful, there's nothing more to pay.

If not, the only cost is a £60 fee plus VAT.

The only way you can prevent further action is to pay in full.

On their way to get justice for someone else

are enforcement officers Darryl Oreton and Mark Povey.

We're off to Bridgnorth now.

We're off to try and find a Mr Julian Clifford Milner.

Mr Milner's a builder

who owes a large debt to a lady he did some work for -

Kath Parton.

Two years ago, she decided to have a new block-paved driveway built.

She didn't know it at the time,

but it was a decision that would see her thousands of pounds out of pocket

and having to go through the courts to try and get it back.

He said he'd do me a better drive than he did the one next door! Far better.

That's the biggest joke in the world!

Kath first came across builder Julian Milner

when he was working on the house next door.

I thought he was a very decent man. I thought he was reasonable

and that he was an honest man.

Mr Milner quoted Kath £4,600 to do her driveway

and build a double-brick boundary wall around the edge of the house.

He said he'd have it done in a matter of weeks.

Yes, I was over the moon.

I was telling the neighbours

I was going to have it all done in two to three weeks, yes.

Thinking she was onto a winner,

Kath paid Mr Milner up front from her life savings.

It was a decision she came to regret.

Within a few weeks of starting the job,

Mr Milner's attendance had become sporadic,

and for Kath, worse was to come.

While she waited for Mr Milner to finish,

she suffered a car accident, leaving her with broken arms and legs.

She's still in constant pain

and her mobility's severely restricted.

Now unable to drive, the building work became even more important.

She needed easy access for the mobility scooter that's now her lifeline.

But instead of aiding her recovery,

three months after starting the job, Mr Milner walked off site.

The driveway's still unfinished and the wall barely started.

It's a disgrace. You can just shove them.

Look at this, how easy it is to lift a brick out.

This will not last very much longer.

It is rubbish. What a bloody mess!

And it wasn't just Kath that thought so.

With Mr Milner refusing to answer her calls,

Kath decided to pay for an independent surveyor to look at the work he'd done.

His conclusion was

it was all substandard.

Even the concrete that he'd laid for the foundations of the wall were substandard.

It needed taking up and redoing.

The surveyor estimated it would cost over £12,000

to rectify the work to a proper standard.

Kath wrote to Mr Milner, demanding a refund.

He offered to finish the work himself,

but Kath had had more than enough of him.

No! No, I didn't want him back here to do the work.

No, I wanted my money back.

Kath decided to start court proceedings against him to get her money back.

Mr Milner responded in writing,

admitting to problems with the job

and offering a one-off £4,000 payment in response.

But, needing more than that to cover her legal costs and rebuild the drive,

Kath rejected the offer.

The matter went to court and a judge agreed with Kath,

awarding her the full amount she claimed, plus her court costs.

But despite her victory,

Kath's still not received any payment from Mr Milner.

My savings have all deteriorated because of it.

I've got nothing at the back of me now

for the latter part of my years, of whatever's left of my life.

Determined not to give up,

Kath's only hope now rests with the sheriffs.

That's why Darryl and Mark are at Mr Milner's home.

They've only got one thing on their minds -

getting her back the money she so desperately needs.

They use their van to block in the expensive-looking vehicles on the drive,

in case they need to seize them.

Then they head for the front door.

Early signs at the house, however, are not looking good.

There's no-one answering, so Darryl goes round the back.

Sheriffs can't force entry at residential properties, as they can at commercial premises,

but they are legally allowed to enter them through unlocked doors or windows.

With the side gate unlocked,

Darryl's straight into the back garden.

The only thing home, however, seems to be canine.

DOG BARKS ..I don't know,

like a chocolaty Labrador thing.

All the doors are locked around there. There's a dog inside.

There's no sign of life.

With no-one to talk to,

all the sheriffs can do is size up what assets are on site.

Luckily, there's no shortage of expensive cars or other goods.

Go around the back and just see whatever goods are in the back garden,

barbeques or a table and chairs or something.

We've got no phone numbers.

It may be a case of seizing the vehicles, whatever we can, and leaving the paperwork.

With full access to the garden,

there are plenty of assets for Mark to get listing.

The dog's not happy about the sheriffs being on site,

but being locked inside, he's off their seizure list.

Other wildlife, however, aren't so lucky.

Big coy carp in there, as well.

Darryl's seizure is drawing to a close.

They deliver a Walking Possession through the letterbox.

What they've listed is now the court's, on paper at least.

But Darryl's not entirely disheartened

and is still hopeful of a good result for Kath.

Although we didn't make contact, it was actually a better result than I was expecting.

There's a dog inside and cats inside, chickens in the back garden,

so there's definitely someone here looking after these animals.

There's four cars, there's a whole family living here,

so someone will be in touch with him today, definitely.

And indeed, Darryl's faith is well placed.

With the weight of a High Court writ behind them,

sometimes the sheriffs' paperwork alone

is enough to get a result on behalf of their clients.

Some days after their visit,

Mr Milner agreed to enter into a court-appointed payment plan.

Kath has already received the first contribution and is understandably delighted.

Altogether, it's been a beautiful day!

He's got to pay every month,

otherwise the enforcement officers will be back down on him

and they will take goods and everything else

to cover the cost of that monthly payment,

so whether he likes it or not, he's in trouble.

I feel not only have I been vindicated,

I can really jump for joy to know I was right.

While the majority of the 70,000 writs sheriffs execute each year

concern collecting unpaid court debts,

it's not all they do.

Today, the sheriffs are on a different type of job -

evicting squatters.

In the high-pressure world of London's property market,

there's a lack of affordable accommodation.

This has led to a rise in squatting.

Recently, the law changed,

making squatting in residential properties a criminal offence,

but not in commercial ones,

where landlords still have to go through the courts to get an eviction.

So squatters have started moving into an increasing number of empty business premises.

And today, enforcement officers Lawrence and Kev are in west London

to deal with just such a case.

We've got a Writ of Possession for a pub called the Cross Keys just off Cheyne Walk.

It's 6 o'clock in the morning and we're going in now.

Andrew Bourne's loss-making pub has been shut for six months.

Four weeks ago, some uninvited guests moved in.

Mr Bourne's obtained a Writ of Possession

and it's now Lawrence and Kev's job, with four colleagues,

to remove the squatters and return the pub to him.

There are people up, there's lights on.

There shouldn't be any problems, but you never know.

We'll be splitting up into teams, covering different floors.

First of all, they need to gain entry

as the squatters have changed the locks.

Let's go.

-That's it.

-And they're in.

But a second door stands between the enforcement officers and the inside of the pub.

Time for the crowbar again.

Enforcement officers!

Who's got the torch?

Up to the first floor. First floor.

Enforcement officers.

They spread out.

They need to check every room to see what's inside.

-Anyone in here?

-No.

And it's not long before they find what they're looking for...

..two squatters, illegally occupying someone else's property

and enjoying its comforts.

The television's on and they've made themselves at home.

They put up no objections and leave quickly.

The job now is to secure the premises

and check the rest of the building for any other squatters that might need removing.

Andy's outside, keeping them out, because there's some gone out already.

We'll work our way down systematically and do the basement in a sec.

And they soon find the pub's most recent patrons

have left something more sinister for them -

a booby trap attached to the door,

meant to bring down boxes of glasses onto anyone entering.

..open the door up and it pulls on there

and all the glasses come down.

It turns out the sheriffs had a closer shave than they realised.

We'll just check out the loo.

Luckily, the other squatters that were in the building have already vacated it.

-There's definitely been a lot more here.

-Oh, yes.

Just at the moment, there's only two of them, so...

It seems advanced word of the impending eviction

has scared the majority of the squatters away.

The owner's now on site

and takes his time inspecting every room of his property.

-Two.

-There were two.

-We were expecting a lot more.

I escorted them out when they got to the ground floor.

They didn't say anything to me, they just walked past.

The pub has been left in a mess,

with food and drink detritus everywhere and the office room a shambles.

But the building is mercifully free of graffiti and structural damage.

I think the original ones might've gone

once they knew the writ had been obtained,

because there was a notice saying "We'll only go under a Writ of Possession".

New locks are put in

and it will only be the owner, Andrew Bourne, that has the keys to them.

For him, it's a welcome relief to finally get his pub back.

It's been a long ordeal,

but we're just very pleased

to finally get rid of the squatters that were in the pub.

It would be beneficial to commercial property owners like ourselves

to have the law on our side, which currently it isn't.

It's a civil matter currently, which we'd prefer it were a criminal matter.

The whole thing might have been an ordeal for the owner,

but for Lawrence it's a job well done.

There were two guys on the first floor and that was it.

We all went to different floors and we only found two.

There could've been loads of people in there. There's still alcohol in there.

There's still a pump working on the ground floor.

We could've found a load of semi-conscious drunks in there, to be fair!

You can never knock it when it goes smoothly and easily.

No hassle, no injuries is the main thing.

-Happy for us to go now?

-Yes.

-Brilliant. Thanks a lot.

-Thank you. You know where we are if you need us.

-Come on, then, chaps.

-Are we done?

-Let's go and find a caff.

With that, it's job done for the sheriffs.

This property at least has been returned to its rightful owner.

But no-one knows which building the squatters will choose as their next residence.

Two hours after they arrived,

Marc and Tony are still at the car dealers in Surrey.

They're trying to get disgruntled customer Clive Nichol £3,300

a court says he's owed for being sold a faulty car.

We took it to a SEAT garage

and they spent half a day looking at all the problems,

and there's more they didn't have time to investigate.

The sheriffs are still waiting for the tow truck to remove the Audi they've clamped.

They've got proof it belongs to the person on the writ - Sami Alsilawi.

But to complicate matters, a second man -

who says he runs a new business at the site, Yorktown Motors -

claims to have since bought the Audi and intends to prove it.

-What have we got here?

-Give us that.

And here he comes...

You told me you had nothing to do with him,

you didn't know who they were, it was an empty yard,

but he went out and bought that car on Friday.

-I bought it cash from him -

-No.

-Why would he buy a car on Friday when he's no longer trading?

-You can ask him.

You need to get him on the phone because we're going to seize the vehicle.

Why don't we stop telling lies?

Let's go in here and have a look at receipts, shall we? There's receipts for sales of cars.

This car was bought last week, yes?

This one was last week.

Or just over a week ago, actually.

Suddenly, another man appears

who isn't best pleased to see our camera.

Don't push! Don't push! Don't push!

And he wants the sheriffs out, too.

-You could please leave the premises?

-No.

If you don't pay the debt, the car goes.

It's the director of Sandhurst Bridge Cars, Sami Alsilawi.

He says he's not interested in paying and that his business is no longer there.

Where does it say that?!

But Marc's not beaten that easily.

He points out that Clive's writ is in Mr Alsilawi's personal name,

and so, he believes, is the Audi they've clamped.

It's in your name.

It's Sandhurst Bridge Cars. It's not Sami.

-Where does it say -?

-Sandhurst Bridge Cars!

-It doesn't say "Limited"!

-I was the company director.

-But it's in your name.

-It's a limited company. It's a limited liability.

-It's in your name.

-No, it's a limited company.

-There is no "Limited" on that!

It doesn't say that on there!

We keep filming as the argument continues on the forecourt.

Let go!

Marc wants to know what Mr Alsilawi's even doing at a garage he says he no longer runs.

-I'm coming to buy a car. I don't own this place.

-You bought five cars on Friday!

What are you doing?

This is not Sandhurst Bridge Cars. Sandhurst Bridge Cars moved out.

Just because you show me a sign, doesn't mean it's nothing to do with you.

-You go and do your homework and come back.

-I've done my homework.

I'm not going away.

Suddenly, Mr Alsilawi wants to speak to us.

He continues to dispute the court's judgment,

saying he doesn't believe it should ever have been brought against Sandhurst Bridge Cars.

I went to court and I said, "It's not my company.

"My company was established in September 2011, and it's still down to me."

The company that used to be here was Johnny Cars, or whatever,

and my company started in September last year.

Mr Alsilawi is convinced

there's no way the writ can be in his name personally.

-It's not in my name.

-It is in your name!

All that Marc and Tony need to know is on the High Court writ in black and white.

Read the line which says "Defendant".

What does the first bit say?

-Sami Alsilawi.

-It's in your name.

-But it's not my car.

Sami, you're not listening to me. It's not in the company name. It's in your name.

We're going round in circles. That is your car, I don't care what you say, and it's going.

-It's not going. I sold it to him.

-It is going. It's going.

It's not going. It's going.

-I can't get a word in.

-It's one of them, "I don't want to listen."

It is. He doesn't want to listen.

While Mr Alsilawi and the Yorktown Motors boss head off for a private word,

Marc and Tony await the arrival of the tow truck and savour some peace and quiet.

-Just wait for them.

-I'm not interested any more.

The car's going. Unless he wants to shell out for it, it's going.

He can do it the easy way or the other way.

We'll just have to call the police at the end of the day.

-But I don't want to go down that route.

-No.

My legs are aching because they're getting cold.

But it's not long before the car dealers are back.

This time, they claim to have proof

that Sami did sell the Audi to Yorktown Motors and no longer owns it -

a receipt.

You've just done it!

-Well, it's a receipt.

-We're not idiots.

-It's a receipt.

-No.

-Now you're insulting us.

-Don't treat me like an idiot. You've just done the receipt.

-It doesn't matter.

-It does matter.

This proves it's his car.

With the sheriffs' patience being stretched to the limit, finally the tow truck arrives.

Don't treat us like idiots.

You alright, guys? How you doing?

It's in there, but I'm a bit...

I think they're going to try and stop us taking it out.

Marc isn't prepared to argue any more.

He just wants the car

so he can get Clive and his family the money that's rightfully theirs.

-We're going to take the car.

-You're not taking the car.

-I'm taking the car.

-You're not taking the car.

It belongs to this gentleman.

I'm not going to get into a stupid fight over this, OK?

-We'll just call the police.

-Call the police, that's fine.

-Just purely to stop a breach of the peace with you.

-That's fine. Phone the police.

Hello. Can I have the police, please?

With the tow truck waiting and the situation liable to get out of hand,

Marc decides he has no choice but to call for backup.

Coming up, we'll see if Marc can leave the garage

with either the money he's after or the Audi.

-Go on, run me over.

-HORN BEEPS

And we'll meet Randeep Dhesi.

She was promised a fairytale photographic record of the happiest day of her life,

but ended up taking the photographer to court.

I can't get those memories. You won't be able to video that again.

The sheriffs go in search of her money.

We're not trying to be pushy.

And how will Lawrence and Kev get on

when they visit one of the world's largest aircraft manufacturers

to ask for £42,000?

On the road again

are enforcement officers Lawrence and Kev.

We're in Ashford in Kent, on our way to Mercury Windows Limited.

An employee of the company worked there for 10 years,

before being dismissed without warning or notice pay.

He doesn't wish to be identified.

The case went to court, where the company contested it.

The judge agreed with the ex-employee

and ordered Mercury Windows to pay him £6,800,

but he's yet to receive a penny.

Now it's a matter for the sheriffs.

-Hello, mate. Mercury Windows Limited, yes?

-OK.

We've got a High Court writ.

We're here today to seize goods to the value of £8,188.49 pence,

with a potential to remove them and sell them at auction.

Nothing's owned by Mercury Windows.

Straight away, the staff member tells them

that although this is the company's registered address,

nothing at the site belong to Mercury Windows.

Unsurprisingly, Lawrence isn't convinced

and demands to speak to the company director.

Hello? They want to talk to you.

Hello, sir.

My name's Mr Grix, I'm an enforcement officer. I'm here with a High Court writ.

The boss, Michael Warren, is quick to say

that as no assets there are registered to Mercury Windows,

there's nothing they can seize to cover the company's debt to its former employee.

Lawrence explains it's not quite that simple.

Unless there's proof to back up his story,

this enforcement - to recover the money owed to the former employee -

is going ahead as planned.

We would need confirmation.

My colleague's going to take an inventory anyway. He's started doing that.

I'm seizing anything on these premises that's got any value.

It's down to whoever does own it to prove that they own it.

So, who owns the assets here?

Tutt Hill Property Limited?

And are you a director of Tutt Hill Property Ltd, as well?

Lawrence's grilling of company director Michael Warren

is quickly giving him an idea of what's happened here.

All the assets at the Mercury Windows base

have been transferred to another company,

which Mr Warren is also a director of -

Tutt Hill Property Limited.

This is perfectly legal and could be bad news for the sheriffs,

but Lawrence isn't ready to back down yet.

And there's a financial trail to show where one company bought assets from another, is there?

It needs to be a full inventory of what was transferred.

It can't just be 15 desks, five computers.

Everything has to be detailed specifically.

If you're able to get that to us, that would be a start

and then we can exclude things that are on your list. OK?

Bye-bye.

He's going to email it over here.

A few minutes later, an email arrives with the inventory,

supposedly listing all the assets that Tutt Hill Property Ltd bought from Mercury Windows.

But Lawrence isn't impressed. He gets back onto the boss.

We've seen your inventory. I don't know if your guy told you.

From our point of view, it's not worth the paper it's written on.

If you were buying a car,

you wouldn't expect a receipt from the dealer saying "A vehicle", would you?

There needs to be some way of proving what is what.

But today, he's facing an adversary whose attention to detail rivals his own.

There's photographs of everything, is there?

That's what we need to see. We need to see the photographs.

Cheers. Bye.

Apparently, there's photos to go with all the items.

The man says the photos will prove all the company's assets have been sold to the other firm.

But as a stickler for detail, Lawrence wants to check every photo.

Go back to the first picture so I can see the two air compressors.

It's bad news.

So far, the photos are matching up to the assets on the boss's list.

Two microcells, yes.

Lawrence might have to admit defeat.

He's got one last card to play.

What I need to see now is the bank statement...

..showing these amounts, either separately or together,

going between the two different companies.

Lawrence listens with bated breath as the staff member calls his boss again.

They're saying can you go on and do the online banking

and show them where this money's been paid?

If the company director can provide proof of the transaction,

this enforcement is dead and buried.

It hasn't been paid? It's owed?

-Right, OK.

-Right, we're taking it, then.

It's the breakthrough the sheriffs desperately needed.

Despite the assets' ownership being transferred from Mercury Windows to the other company,

no money has passed between them.

Lawrence takes over the call to tell Mr Warren

that as far as he's concerned, the sale is null and void.

The goods are going because they still belong to Mercury Windows.

No. It all still belongs to Mercury Windows.

Yes, it does.

You've now admitted to me that funds were never transferred. This invoice has never been paid.

Those assets still belong to Mercury Windows.

It doesn't matter.

They've never been purchased.

Sensing victory, he turns the pressure up.

The transfer paperwork was drawn up three days before the tribunal.

I can see you've already tried to transfer the assets out into the name of another company,

so I now believe the goods to be in jeopardy,

so I will be removing them today.

At this point, Michael Warren performs a major u-turn

and says he'd like to pay in full.

Not a problem. We catch everybody by surprise!

I have, yes. Bye-bye.

Lawrence's top-notch negotiating has got the desired effect.

Here we go.

There's that one and the card.

There's the receipt. Thanks, gents.

-Cheers.

-Cheers, guys.

-See you later.

-Bye-bye.

Dealing with someone of Lawrence's experience

and not having your documents in place is asking for trouble.

With the full amount owed to the former employee collected,

it's a superb result for the sheriffs.

When you think back to your wedding, it's hopefully with nothing but happy memories.

For Randeep Desai, however, that's not the case.

She was left heartbroken and out of pocket

after coming into contact with a woeful wedding photographer.

Following a whirlwind engagement,

she and husband-to-be Amardeep were planning a traditional two-day Sikh celebration.

Hopes and expectations were very high.

It was something that we've planned for over a year. It's very special.

It's a day that you won't get again.

Looking for a photographer, Randeep was recommended Kash Mohammed,

who ran a wedding photography business in east London.

I went over to have a look at his work. It was really good.

I decided to go with Kash on that basis.

And in this case, Kash cost cash. And lots of it.

Randeep was due to pay him £3,300 in total,

for which he'd give her a DVD of the wedding

and two copies of a 60-page storybook wedding album

shot by a professional photographer, hired for the occasion.

The price also included a pre-wedding shoot

in a location of the couple's choice.

Randeep wanted hers amongst the world-famous landmarks of Central London.

I wanted to have the iconic wheel and the Tower Bridge

and, erm, things that really...

..kind of centre on London and what it is.

Instead, he asked us to come to Brixton!

So I was like, "OK. It's not really what we planned out."

But he was quite insistent, so I kind of agreed reluctantly.

Even the best photographer in the world

would be hard-pressed to find a world-famous landmark in Brixton.

Despite this,

Randeep felt it was too late to change wedding photographer.

The special day came

and the wedding itself was everything Randeep had hoped for.

But with the nuptials over, things started to go wrong.

Randeep was shown the professional photographer's photos,

picked her favourite 150,

and waited for them to be put into the storybook wedding album,

which never came.

Eventually, a year and a half after the wedding,

she got a disc with her wedding photos.

The only problem was, it didn't include any pictures taken by the professional

because Kash hadn't paid him.

The only pictures on the disc were the ones Kash took himself.

The album didn't include the pictures I had chosen.

There were 40 pages instead of 60,

and it was haphazard, just put together.

There was no thought into it whatsoever.

It was just a horrible album to look at.

And the DVD was a video nasty.

It had a lot of jolty moments,

there was a lot of repeat editing,

like when I came into the temple,

he had me coming in twice, so he's obviously not edited it.

I'm not sure whether you're familiar with Sikh ceremonies,

but you have to go around the Holy Book four times.

He had me going around about seven or eight.

It was just a farce.

A lot of takes of people's backs...

It's just not nice to watch.

There was a lot of family that couldn't come,

so they've been asking my mum for the video.

I couldn't give it to them at the standard that he gave me.

It was just too poor.

You can't get those memories.

You just won't be able to video that again.

Appalled by what she'd received, she demanded her money back

but nothing came.

At her wits' end, Randeep took Kash to the Small Claims Court.

He admitted liability and agreed to pay her back the money,

but still Randeep hasn't received a penny.

With nothing left to lose, she's had to turn to the sheriffs.

On a rainy morning in east London,

Marc and Lawrence have taken on the job of getting Randeep her money back.

They're on their way to a certain wedding photographer's registered business address,

which they suspect is also his home.

We're off to see Kashif Mohammed in east London, in E6.

Erm... He owes £3,314.

The sheriffs arrive and head straight to the front door.

DOORBELL RINGS

-Morning.

-Morning.

-I'm after Kashif Mohammed.

The man isn't Kash Mohammed,

but says he did live here but has since moved out.

He says it's the third time someone's come looking for him.

I'm just going to go and have a look round the side.

While Marc talks to the man at the door,

Lawrence wants to check on something.

He's heard that the photographer has a studio somewhere on site,

full of potentially seizable equipment.

There's definitely something in the extension at the back

but to find out what, he'd have to gain entry to the house.

He can only do this if a door or window is left open and unattended.

By the time Lawrence returns, the homeowner has arrived

and it's Kash Mohammed's wife.

She says she and her husband are separated and he moved out six or seven years ago.

Lawrence is suspicious.

We've got a judgement against him

from a claim which is within the time that he's left,

with him operating a photographic studio from these premises.

Are you happy for us to come in and check that there is no studio at the back of the property?

I'm not trying to be pushy about it.

Mrs Mohammed is not happy about them entering her property.

But while she goes off to contact her solicitor,

she leaves the front door unattended.

It's all the opportunity Lawrence needs to enter the house

to see whether there's a studio there.

We're in.

Thank you very much.

We're going to do a diligent search of the property, because we gained peaceful entry.

High Court enforcement officers

are entitled to enter a residential property named in a writ,

but they cannot force their way in.

In this case, it's Lawrence's last resort

if he's to get Randeep back her money.

Unhappy about having Marc and Lawrence in the house,

the family calls the police.

As expected, they confirm that Marc and Lawrence are within their rights in entering.

Inside, Lawrence and Marc conduct a lengthy search.

In hour and a half later, it's all over.

Lawrence's detective skills have been very much to the fore.

From the other side of the room,

I saw about three or four millimetres of key

sticking off the top of a high shelf.

Reached up and there was the bunch of keys.

Out into the back door, and there was a 20-foot by 15-foot photographic studio,

with Apple computers in it, erm,

a tower unit for burning CDs and DVDs.

A pool table, a running machine...! It was a big old room out the back.

We've seized everything from there.

The threat of Lawrence's paper seizure of her husband's assets

persuaded Mrs Mohammed to arrange payment in full.

We seized sufficient goods to cover the debt and got a payment.

That's about as good as it gets, really, for a residential.

After the money was received by the sheriffs,

Randeep finally got the photographs she'd chosen from the professional photographer,

thanks in no small part to Lawrence and Marc.

Mrs Mohammed maintains that...

In the van and on the M4 to Bristol are Lawrence and Kev.

They're going to pay a visit to a major multi-national company.

The man who's asked for the sheriffs' help is solicitor Amar Alyas.

He specialises in fighting for compensation

for people that have suffered deafness through working in noisy environments.

He recently took on the case of John.

John worked on the assembly line for aircraft manufacturing giant Airbus UK and its predecessors

for over 28 years.

Soon after taking early retirement,

he developed hearing problems and was diagnosed with tinnitus.

The tinnitus was quite severe,

so if you can imagine spending 20 minutes every hour

having a hissing and a buzzing noise in your ears every day,

it's very depressing.

A medical expert diagnosed him as having 10 decibels of hearing loss,

due to excessive noise.

That's the same amount that a member of the public would expect to lose

over half a lifetime of normal hearing loss.

Armed with the expert's report,

Amar took Airbus UK to court, but they failed to contest the case.

John won a judgment of £31,000.

It's money he desperately needs to buy specialist hearing aids,

not available on the NHS.

Despite his court victory, Airbus UK still haven't paid up.

John's last hope now lies with the sheriffs.

We've just arrived in Bristol

and we're on our way at the moment to Airbus UK Ltd.

If it's got assets,

we can seize them and potentially remove them

to be sold to clear the debt.

Arriving at Airbus HQ, they park up and head in.

Security is heavy, unsurprisingly,

for one of the world's two largest aircraft manufacturers.

We're asked not to enter the premises, but Lawrence and Kev go inside.

I'll show you some ID. My name's Mr Grix.

I'm here to execute a High Court writ against Airbus UK Ltd.

The amount owed has risen to over £42,000,

due to court fees, sheriffs' fees, interest and VAT.

It might sound like a lot,

but for a company with revenues of over £26 billion,

it's small change.

It's now up to Lawrence to convince them of that.

We're here today to seize goods to the value of £42,000.

Airbus may know a lot about building planes,

but they're not so clued up on how the High Court enforcement system works.

Lawrence fills them in.

There's a County Court Judgment against the company. I've got a copy of the writ here.

The important bit is here.

"You are now commanded to seize the goods, chattels and other property of the defendant,

"authorised by law."

Soon after, Lawrence and Kev are led off to a nearby building, while we continue to wait outside.

John's been waiting nearly five months for payment from Airbus

and, so far, got nothing.

Lawrence and Kev, on the other hand, have been inside for less than an hour

when they finally emerge.

Basically, we collected full payment!

They took us down to the main office,

where head of legal and head of accounts is,

and did a bank transfer for the full amount.

So another job Paid In Full.

That's a staggering £42,426.51.

Most importantly for John, it means he's finally getting his £10,000 hearing aid.

No wonder Lawrence is keen to share the good news.

We just collected 42 grand off of, erm, Airbus.

Airbus told us...

In Surrey, Marc and Tony are locked into a stand-off at a car dealers

with Sami Alsilawi.

They're trying to get back £3,300,

awarded by a court to customer Clive Nichol.

We're going round in circles. That is your car, I don't care what you say, and it's going.

-It's not going.

-It is.

The police are on their way, to keep the peace,

while the sheriffs remove a car belonging to Mr Alsilawi.

But as they wait,

he has another bright idea of how to stop them -

using another vehicle to block his seized car

inside the forecourt gates.

-No.

-You have to move.

-I don't have to move.

Don't drive at me.

Are they on their way?

Just tell them he's run you over.

Go on, run me over.

Tell them he's run you over.

Experienced enforcement officers Marc and Tony are less than impressed

and have an easy solution of their own.

If you don't move this, we'll just drag it out the way.

We are going to drag this out the way.

It's an offence to obstruct a High Court sheriff in executing their duties.

Things could soon get a lot worse for Sami Alsilawi.

You're going to get nicked for obstructing if you don't sort yourself out.

Not to mention his sheriffs' bill, which is increasing by the hour.

You can charge us waiting time and we'll charge him, if that's all right.

Are you alright to wait? No worries.

Here's the gendarmes now. We'll get this sorted now.

-Hello, ladies.

-Hello there.

-All right?

After four long, frustrating hours at the garage,

two Police Community Support Officers arrive to act as peacekeepers.

Tony briefs the PCSOs on what's been going on.

-That's his personal name. That's the address.

-Yes, yes.

-I can vouch for that being him.

-Yes.

We're just here to prevent a breach of the peace.

You need to move the vehicle and let them get on with their job.

The PCSOs' presence seems to have had a calming effect on Mr Alsilawi,

as he watches Tony remove the clamp from his car.

But as the sheriffs begin their removal of the Audi,

Mr Alsilawi again decides he's had enough of our camera.

-Switch off the camera.

-No. Sorry.

Switch off the camera.

Luckily, the PCSOs are on hand

and make sure the Audi's departure goes smoothly.

And there it goes.

The car Sami Alsilawi fought so hard to keep

disappears on the back of a tow truck.

All right, this is a notice of seizure.

Marc has some paperwork for Mr Alsilawi,

which explains his car is now the property of the court.

And that's your bill - 6,121.50.

All right?

-Thank you for your help.

-Bye.

-Cheers. Bye-bye.

With a valuable asset seized, to be sold at auction if Mr Alsilawi doesn't pay up,

it's job done for Marc and Tony today.

Out of all the jobs I've ever done, I don't think I've been told so many lies before.

The story changed all the time.

We weren't ever going to get to the bottom of it, but we've ended up taking the vehicle away.

What do you want to...?

Let's go and get a cup of tea or something. I'm absolutely frozen.

And since we filmed at Sandhurst Bridge Cars,

the Audi seized by the sheriffs has been sold at auction.

It raised £3,600, which - after auction fees -

will go towards paying off the debt to Clive and his family.

That is fantastic news. It's absolutely brilliant.

Just the kind of result we were after.

Brilliant result.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd