Episode 15 The Sheriffs Are Coming

-Meet the Sheriffs...

-Let's go and introduce ourselves.

-We're High Court Enforcement Officers.

-We're here today

-to execute a High Court Writ.

-They're the men whose job it is

to get YOU your money back.

It's an arrestable offence to stop me doing my job.

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

-I'm not waiting any more.

-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 just tell me who you are?

-This is an absolute crock -

-you need to pay this!

-..the High Court Enforcement Officers

are charged by law to recover what a court says is rightfully yours.

-I've seized your car, sir.

-You can have a letter through the door

-or we'll go through the window.

-Whoa, whoa, whoa!

It's time to call...the Sheriffs.

I've collected 42 grand...

Coming up...

Lawrence and Kev head to Savile Row,

to give a world-famous tailor a dressing-down.

I carry with me the power of arrest and I'll call the police down

to have you arrested...

Liz Greaves' ex-boyfriend promised to pay her

for the £2,000 sofa she bought.

But instead, she's been left seriously out of pocket.

Felt quite helpless at the time, because I just thought,

"Am I ever going to get my money back?"

Can the Sheriffs get her what she's owed?

Look - we'll look to come back with locksmiths, that's all.

There's no point damaging the front door.

And Emma Crook was unfairly dismissed by the pub she worked at.

Basically, I was sacked for making a comment on Facebook.

Can the Sheriffs get her the £4,600 she's owed?

Just to explain - enforcement officer,

we've got a High Court Writ to attend here tonight...

London -

centre of the country's legal, financial and political business.

And the heart of one of the most exclusive shopping districts

in the world.

It's not often a place the Sheriffs visit...

Where am I going?

..but today, it's exactly where Sheriffs Lawrence Grix

and Kev McNally are headed.

They're off to visit a shop

that hasn't paid a debt to one of its suppliers.

But it's not just any old shop.

I'm going to a call in Savile Row,

to a company called Nick Tentis Ltd.

Don't know what the debt is about,

but they do appear to be a Savile Row tailor.

Erm, quite a nice shop, with a couple of little bay trees outside.

We've got a debt of £7,376.78.

It's an Italian company, so I'm guessing,

by the fact that it's got a "tex" in the name, that they've provided

some kind of suit material or something like that...

that Nick Tentis has then gone on to make suits out of,

but not paid the supplier.

Savile Row, in Mayfair, is world famous for its tailors

and bespoke menswear.

It's outfitted everyone, from Winston Churchill and Admiral Nelson

to Michael Jackson and the Royal Family.

It might not know it yet, but today, The Row is about to host

two unexpected new gentlemen customers.

I think that might be it on the right down there,

with the little trees outside.

-Nick Tentis, there it is.

-Can I go in there, or that one?

Yeah, you're all right in there - maximum stay, four hours.

They found the shop and a parking space.

They head in, to try and find tailor Nick Tentis.

-My name's Mr Grix, I'm an enforcement officer.

-Right, OK.

I've got a High Court Writ to execute against Nick Tentis Ltd.

I'm here today to seize goods to the value of £7,376.78,

or collect payment in full.

The man gets boss Nick Tentis on the phone.

We've got a High Court Writ.

OK.

While the staff try and sort out what to do,

Lawrence and Kev take the opportunity to browse the garments.

But they're not on a shopping trip.

There you go...

See if you can get some information

off the labels or something, off them.

If the debt's not paid, these expensive suits

could be seized, removed and sold to pay off the debt.

At this point, we're asked to leave.

However, boss Nick Tentis arrived soon after

to speak to Lawrence, who quickly gets him up to speed.

We've got a High Court Writ to the tune of £7,376.78.

The man claims he's paid the debt,

and can't understand why the Sheriffs are visiting.

Lawrence asks for proof, but the man says

he won't be able to get any until tomorrow.

Lawrence makes some calls to see if the office can establish

whether the client's received any money.

Hello, it's Lawrence - who's our client? Have we got solicitors?

Well, can you get them to pull their finger out?

Because we're here - you know what solicitors are like.

All right! Cheers.

Whatever the tailor is claiming, Lawrence needs to continue his work.

We still need a list anyway, Kev,

because then we can bill the client if it's already been paid.

He starts listing assets, and putting his own estimates

on what they might fetch at auction -

values to which the owner takes exception.

It's my experience - not your experience of selling suits

at mark-up...at ticket price...

It's my experience of selling items at auction

that puts the value on these and dictates how much I take.

The tailor says he won't allow Lawrence to remove any assets.

You can't stop me.

The tailor asks him how he expects to remove goods

without his permission.

I shall just pull up the van out here, and load it up.

The man says he'll stop Lawrence doing this.

You won't, because you'll be arrested for obstruction.

I carry with me the power of arrest,

and I'll call the police down to have you arrested.

The man says, if Lawrence can give him some time, he'll get him

the evidence he needs that this debt's already been paid.

We won't be coming back.

The only way we'd come back is to remove.

If we left here today, it would either be a case of...

If it turns out you hadn't paid it, you'd need to pay the balance.

I can live with £3k.

Go and see what you can get and we'll deal with it once

we know what we're dealing with.

While the man goes off to see how much money he can rustle up,

Lawrence continues listing his assets.

A few minutes later, he returns with £1,500 cash.

But it's still someway short of the £7,376

that Lawrence has come to collect today.

It's not really cutting the mustard, is it, on a debt of this size.

The tailor says later today, he hopes to get proof that he's

paid the debt and if he can't, he'll just pay the outstanding balance.

You'll need to sign a walking possession agreement,

which basically signs over the goods that I've seized to the court.

His point made, Lawrence relents.

He's got £1,500 cash for now, and a walking possession order

on clothing inside the store to protect the remainder of the debt.

-That's a walking possession. Bye-bye.

-Ta-ra.

I tend to think he has paid it, to be honest.

Someone in his position in Savile Row,

they're not going to not pay a debt.

And if he hadn't paid it,

I'm pretty sure he'd have found a way to pay us in full now.

Apparently, his bookkeeper's going to be at home this

evening at about 6.00pm.

He's got all our contact details and he's going to ask him

to send it over to us. He's shown willing.

He's paid £1,500 and we'll see what happens on Tuesday.

And with that, the Sheriffs head off.

If Mr Tentis can't prove he's paid the debt,

they'll be back to remove the garments they've seized.

While the vast majority of the Sheriffs' cases

involve some sort of business, occasionally,

they have to enforce on writs relating to purely personal matters.

I believe it's apartments. That's the only information I've got.

On their way to one such case today

are Sheriffs Pete Spencer and Dave Crabtree.

They're in Bolton on their way to try and find a particular address.

This is a private individual versus a private individual.

Seemingly, the debt relates to purchases of some sofas

or something.

The woman they're on their way to help is Liz Greaves from Bolton.

Two years ago, she split up with her then boyfriend.

It's always a difficult time in anyone's life,

but it's left her with a most unexpected of problems, one that

means she's out of pocket and forced to go to the Sheriffs for help.

Before Liz and her ex-partner Michael Baglin broke up,

Liz bought new sofas intended for their new home.

It was a big investment, costing over £2,000,

and one Liz hoped would be worth it in the long run.

Liz paid for the sofas in full, and when they broke up,

Mike agreed to keep the sofas in his flat and pay her

£55 a month for the next four years, until they were paid off.

At first, he did so.

But after nine months, despite having the sofas in his possession,

the money dried up.

It was a constant battle every month,

you know, for a week or chasing him.

"Have you paid? Have you paid? Are you going to pay?"

And I eventually got some,

but not anything like what I was supposed to get.

I felt quite hopeless at the time cos I just thought,

"Am I ever going to get my money back?"

I was just really fed up of all the arguing

and the chasing every month.

Getting nowhere with Mike, Liz decided to take her case to court.

My only option, really, was a small claims court, initially.

I thought, "It's worth a try.

"I might not get anything but at least it's something."

Liz brought a County Court Action against Mike for the money

that was outstanding on the sofas.

But when he got notice of the case,

Mike contacted Liz to sort the issue out.

He then said he couldn't pay that but he'd sell the sofas

and give me £750, which I agreed to, because I just wanted an end to it.

Then I said to him, "Well, go back to the court

"and say you'll pay £750 and I'll agree to that."

But he didn't do. So he then had a month to make a £100 payment,

which would then be the start of the instalments to cover the £2,000.

He never paid that either.

By now, Liz had had enough.

She didn't have the sofas or her money, and she needed it.

It was £2,000. It is a lot of money, and money I could do with.

Liz went back to court.

It's unusual that the courts settle matters between ex-partners,

but when Mike didn't contest the case, the court judged

in favour of Liz and ordered him to pay her the £1,983 she was owed.

But he's still not paid up.

Liz's only hope of getting her money back now rests with the Sheriffs.

Get back onto the main road and see if that's Manchester Road.

But it's not proving easy.

We need to go back up to the top of the road, carry on down there

and it's just on the left-hand side, further down.

Other than the address,

the only distinguishing features they're aware of

are that they're looking for a block of apartments and an electric gate.

Are there electric gates on these? That's the one. Oh, yeah.

Bingo.

Finally.

As well as the address, they've got the gate code,

which means they can gain access to the block's car park.

But it's not just for the convenience of parking their van.

It means if there is a vehicle on the debtor's parking space,

they can locate and seize it, on paper at least,

to use as leverage to get the debt owed to Liz Greaves paid.

See if this works. Nah.

Might have changed it, Dave.

But Dave's having problems getting the code to work.

Must have changed it.

Green light comes on and it says "accept".

Will Pete fare any better?

It's the skills that pay the bills.

Number 22.

Probably round to the left, I think.

They head in and moments later, Pete finds what he's after.

-Anything there?

-22, yeah?

Yeah, car.

So we've got a vehicle in the bay we're looking for,

so we'll just make a note of that vehicle registration first.

That's a nice car, isn't it?

Head round to the intercom system, see if we can get anyone's attention.

With the vehicle seized, they go to find the apartment itself.

Being a shared block,

getting access to the front door might not be that easy.

No-one's answering the intercom and they can't get access to

the flat on the top floor they're after.

There's a vehicle in the bay, so you'd think they're potentially in.

Dark hair, average build.

You'd think it'd be second floor, as well.

Luckily, Pete manages to raise the block caretaker.

We're looking for Mr Michael Baglin.

Right. Has he gone, moved out?

The caretaker says he's happy to pass on Pete's notice of seizure.

But Pete also wants him to pass on the fact that his powers

as a Sheriff go a lot further than just delivering notices of seizure.

We'll look to come back with locksmiths.

Are you generally at number 2?

-Yeah.

-There's no point in damaging the front door with a locksmith

and changing locks, it'll just create problems.

Ultimately, that's what we'll look to do

if we don't get any return off this, you see.

Don't do this one.

You're number 2, aren't you? You're number 2.

-And you're generally here in the day or...?

-I'm never far away.

Right, OK.

Pete hands the caretaker the seizure paperwork and

asks him to deliver it.

Right, OK. If you can slide that under his door or something.

I'll wait to see if he gets back in touch.

If he doesn't, we'll just chase it a bit further and see.

-OK. Hopefully, he'll reply. Thanks.

-Thanks for your time.

With no-one in the flat and unable to gain entry,

there's nothing more Pete and Dave can do today.

While it's far from the ideal outcome,

it's also certainly not a failure.

Pete has a strong sense

Mr Baglin will get the message he asked the caretaker to pass on.

They've seized one vehicle on paper, established where Mr Baglin lives

and made sure he'll get their notice of seizure.

And indeed, Pete was proved right.

Sometimes the Sheriffs' paperwork alone is enough to make

people think twice about ignoring court debts.

Some days after Pete and Dave's visit, Mr Baglin contacted

the Sheriffs and arranged payment for Liz, in instalments.

For her, it's a huge relief to finally get her money.

I was really, really relieved when this letter arrived because it

was actually... I never thought I would see this day.

So now to have actual proof that they have received the money,

and to receive the cheque as well,

was the end to a very long, drawn-out process.

You all right? Guv'nor about?

We're Sheriffs from the High Court.

The Sheriffs enforce over 70,000 High Court Writs every year.

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

It's a job that takes them all over England and Wales,

from country villages and seaside towns

to the heart of the major towns and cities.

But with such a vast territory to cover, one challenge

the Sheriffs constantly face is finding the addresses they're after.

-Where am I going?

-I don't know. It hasn't found a satellite yet.

I just love numbers that go - 4, 15, 2.

-That's 2.

-What we after?

-20.

Armed with little more than a writ and a sat nav,

this can be difficult at the best of times.

Could be anywhere, couldn't it?

We still can't find it. Is it here somewhere?

Are you the guys from earlier? You've not found it?

What a debacle.

But no matter how convoluted their route...

-Where are we?

-There, I think.

..or tucked away the address they're looking for...

Country lane. Named house. Brilliant.

..they always find it in the end.

-Got it.

-That's it. I'm telling you.

Oh, yeah. There. Look. We found it and we're here.

These days a High Court Writ costs £60.

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

If they're unsuccessful, the only cost is a £60 admin fee.

You take some finding!

On the road again, Lawrence and Kev are back in London, but this

time dealing with an assignment more in their neck of the woods.

They're on their way to a south London car garage,

called in to collect a debt owed by one business to another.

We're on our way to Camberwell at the moment.

To a company called SP Fleet Ltd for a debt of £5,880.80.

Where's it gone? Where is it?

Arriving at the street listed,

finding the right premises is the first challenge.

SP MOT.

That's it.

Lawrence spots a familiar name but with a twist.

They're looking for SP Fleet Ltd.

They've found SP MOT Ltd.

It's got to be that MOT place, I would think.

While Lawrence is sure they're at the right place,

the difference in the name on the writ could prove

a major stumbling block in getting this debt paid.

It's time to find out.

-Hello there. SP Fleet Ltd?

-Yeah.

My names Mr Grix, I'm an enforcement officer.

I'm here today to execute a High Court Writ.

I'm here today to seize goods to the value of £5,880.80.

The lady on reception says they're aware of the debt

and have offered to pay it off monthly.

Lawrence explains this doesn't change what they've come to do.

The claimant's entitled to transfer it to

the High Court for enforcement purposes at any time.

It doesn't matter what appeals are going on.

If they want to execute it in the meantime, they can do.

SP Fleet's boss isn't there but the woman gets him on the phone.

You're able to get him on the phone, though, aren't you?

She puts him on to Lawrence,

who's more than happy to explain the situation.

We're been sent here today to execute this High Court Writ.

We're here to seize goods to the value of £5,880.80.

So we're not actually here for money today.

We're actually ordered here by the court to seize goods

to clear the debt.

Goods that can be removed and sold at auction.

However, if you want to pay it in full,

that would obviously prevent the need to remove your goods and sell them.

The company boss doesn't seem keen on either option

and immediately throws a spanner in the works.

So you're saying everything here is SP MOT?

He says all the goods in the garage belong to SP MOT Ltd

not SP Fleet Ltd, and so can't be seized by the Sheriffs

to pay the debt.

Is there any paperwork here showing that goods belong to SP MOT Ltd?

The main thing I'm looking at, at the moment,

is your recovery truck sitting outside.

That's leased, is it? Is the lease paperwork here?

In situations like these, the responsibility to prove who owns what

lies with the defendant, not the Sheriffs.

Unless the proof is forthcoming,

this enforcement will be going ahead.

What I'll have to do, I'll have to seize everything

and you'll have to, on behalf of SP MOT,

submit a third party claim to those goods.

The boss asks to speak to the receptionist again.

Yeah, sure.

He wants to speak to you.

Has Lawrence done enough to convince him it's best to pay up?

-How much is it?

-£5,880.80.

The boss wants to talk to Lawrence again

and offers to pay £5,000.

I can live with that. Fair play to you, that's showing willing.

When can you pay the other 880?

I can live with that. How you going to pay that?

Lady's got a debit card. OK, we'll do that, sir.

With the man offering to pay the bulk of the debt,

Lawrence is more than happy.

It's now simply a case of PIN number in,

and home and dry for the Sheriffs.

Call authorisation centre.

Or maybe not.

The machine tells Lawrence he must call the card company.

Right, so he needs to speak to the bank and I need to keep the card.

So close to getting the payment they came for.

They've told me to retain the card

Mr Powell's got to get in touch with his bank.

Lawrence must now find another means of getting the money

from SP Fleet Ltd.

You can do it by bank transfer. £5,000.

That's it. Excellent.

Luckily, this time, the payment, made by bank transfer,

does go through.

36741.

Lawrence double checks with the office

that they've received the £5,000, and they're on their way.

Thanks. Bye-bye.

It's a nice way to end the day.

We've got £5,000. Only 880 left.

I did see the bank statement to show there was only £5,000 available,

so they paid what they could, effectively.

And with that, they head off, with the money in the bank and the

business that's owed it soon to get what's rightfully theirs, in full.

Back on the road and heading for another car dealership,

are Sheriffs Lawrence and Kev.

But this time,

they're on their way to a classic car showroom in central London.

They've got a Bugatti Veyron, they've got just about every top

make of car you'd expect to find at a really high quality car dealer.

The man they're trying to help is himself a car dealer.

He paid a £16,000 deposit to CSFLPM Ltd.

Formerly called Clive Sutton Premier Marques Ltd.

It was for a Porsche 911.

But he never got the car or his deposit returned.

The case went to court.

CSFLPM Ltd did not contest it

and a judge awarded the car dealer £16,000.

A later appeal for set aside was also judged to be without merit.

Since then, the car dealer has yet to receive any money.

Given the quality of stock we're expecting to find on the forecourt,

we should have a fairly good chance of clearing this up.

Intending to get the car dealer his money back,

five minutes later,

Lawrence and Kev arrive at the imposing garage showroom.

-SAT NAV:

-'You have reached your destination.'

That's it. Clive Sutton.

And immediately, Kev's getting excited.

Mate, you see that Mustang they've got at the front?

That's the old...

-The old 350 Shelby GT.

-The one from that film.

-Eleanor.

-Yeah, that's it.

Time to park up and head in.

Let's go and introduce ourselves.

It looks like Lawrence and Kev are a bit early.

With the garage deserted, they take the opportunity to have

a closer look at a classic Mustang sports car.

Lawrence is confident it would easily pay the debt all on its own.

What are they worth, then?

That, that's on the internet at 174.

-174 grand?!

-Yeah.

It's gorgeous, though, innit?

Let's go sit in the van for a minute, then, eh?

There's nothing to do but sit tight and hope the garage opens up.

It should opening any time now.

9 o'clock it opens, apparently.

Lawrence is right. Bang on time, a salesman appears.

As Kev moves the van onto the garage forecourt, Lawrence explains

the purpose of their visit to the staff member inside.

My name's Mr Grix, I'm an enforcement officer.

So, would you like to let me in and I'll speak to you about it?

The salesman invites Lawrence in and grudgingly opens up for Kev, too,

but isn't prepared to let us follow him.

If you've seen us on the telly,

you know what the score is.

This needs paying in full or we'll be taking stock.

We continue filming from outside as the salesman promptly disappears...

Where's he gone?

..leaving two excited sheriffs to prowl his showroom.

These vehicles may be easy on the eye

but, more importantly, they're assets that could, if necessary,

be seized and sold to pay the debt owed to the car dealer.

I just want a car with a button in it that just says "launch".

Absolutely awesome car.

-Is it a Shelby Mustang what...?

-500 GT.

Absolutely beautiful.

You're going to get in it in a minute.

Petrol-heads Lawrence and Kev are in their element.

Still waiting for the salesman to return,

Lawrence decides it's time for a test drive.

Jeez. There's just so much space, ain't there?

-A ton, isn't there?

-Yeah.

Absolutely awesome.

How much leg room have you got?

While sitting in the car of his dreams is certainly

a pleasant way to spend the morning,

Lawrence's priority is getting the car dealer his money back.

He calls the Clive Sutton office number

in search of the vanished salesman.

Hello there. My name's Mr Grix.

I'm at your shop in St John's Wood.

I'm an enforcement officer.

I saw the sales guy and he disappeared about 15 minutes ago and hasn't come back.

Thanks, bye.

That was a woman. There must be an office upstairs.

This call soon has the desired effect, as another man appears

and introduces himself as the garage's financial controller.

He invites the sheriffs to follow him upstairs to his office.

Mr Grix. We didn't even realise this was here.

We realised the other guy had gone somewhere. We didn't realise where he'd gone.

After having to wait for over 40 minutes,

Lawrence wants to get things moving.

I don't know if you know how a High Court Writ works.

We're ordered out to seize goods to clear the debt, basically.

The only way to prevent that is to pay in full.

The cars downstairs are the main things now.

The man claims all the luxury cars are being sold

on behalf of customers, and aren't owned by the garage.

He has documents he says prove this and wants to show Lawrence.

This not a sale and return document. This is a buyer's document.

So far, I'm not happy with that at all, what I've seen there.

There's absolutely no evidence whatsoever

that that car is on a sale-or-return basis.

The water just gets muddy, doesn't it?

But just when it looks like Lawrence has the upper hand,

the man uses his laptop to show him something else -

proof on the Companies House website that the business named on his writ -

CSFLPM Ltd, formerly called Clive Sutton Premier Marques Ltd -

is in liquidation.

It's a body blow for chances of getting the money owed.

With the company liquidated,

Lawrence now knows there's nothing at the garage they can seize,

and no chance of payment.

We'll be on our way. OK.

Cheers.

For Lawrence, it's doubly frustrating.

They can't get the car dealer his money back

and have wasted their morning.

We were going all through the paperwork for the vehicles,

and then he shows us that they are actually liquidated, so...

You know, we could have been in and out, really.

There's now a new company running this garage

which isn't responsible for the liquidated company's debts.

There's nothing to do on this at all. That's it. Gone.

Clive Sutton told us the company was unable to contest the original judgment

because the director with knowledge of it was abroad.

They latterly made an appeal to have the judgment set aside,

but because of the financial collapse of CSFLPM Ltd,

they were unable to proceed with the application.

They said the collapse of CSFLPM Ltd was due to the activities of a since convicted fraudster,

which had led to a number of trade creditors incurring losses.

Sheriffs can go to any address in England and Wales

to enforce a writ, and at any time they want.

They frequently work unsocial hours...

..often surprising debtors with an early-morning house call.

But today, it's an evening callout for sheriffs Pete Spencer

and Dave Crabtree.

They're winding their way through Preston in Lancashire

on their way...to the pub.

But they're not planning on a relaxing pint.

We're doing an evening visit for enforcement.

It's a public house, the Golden Cross public case.

Seemingly, this is an employment tribunal case

where the GC (LANCS) Ltd, which manages the pub,

the Golden Cross pub which we're going to,

has obviously had an issue with a member of staff

and ended up with an employment tribunal deemed against them.

The person Pete and Dave are on their way to help

is Emma Crook from Preston.

When she took a job at a local pub,

she hoped she'd get experience in catering.

Instead, it's left her out of pocket

and forced to go to the sheriffs for help.

Today, Emma is taking time out in her local pub,

but two years ago, looking to develop her catering career,

she took a job at another pub, the Golden Cross in Preston,

run by Sharon Duxbury.

She hoped to eventually run the pub kitchen as a separate business.

However, with the kitchen space being used as storage,

this plan didn't come to fruition.

Instead, she became a full-time member of staff,

working the bar and living in accommodation above the pub.

Everything was fine.

We got along well, but Sharon wasn't working at the pub at the time.

She has another job.

It was only later on, when she took over as full-time manager,

that the problems began.

Emma worked hard and put in long hours.

It was a job that was far from glamorous.

My duties at the pub - line cleans, cleaning the pub,

all the horrendous stuff that comes with the toilets in there.

Bank cheques. Got the floats.

Started serving the customers.

I was happy for a while, yes, definitely.

It was only in the latter stages that I wasn't really that happy.

But after a year with the company,

Emma was unceremoniously sacked after the pub management took

exception to some posts she made on Facebook.

I put a comment on Facebook saying that my head had turned to mush.

There were comments that followed off Sharon saying that

I was slagging off the customers, which was untrue.

The morning after, I hadn't read comments,

but I got a text message off her asking me to come in for a meeting.

As I went in for a meeting that day, she sacked me on gross misconduct.

Yeah, basically, I was sacked for making a comment on Facebook.

I was numb, really, because I didn't think she would be able to do it,

but there was not much I could say. It was her decision.

And Emma had lost more than just her job.

I'd lost where I was living, I had to move back into my parents'.

It was hard.

Feeling wronged, Emma looked to take legal action.

She spoke to a solicitor.

Yeah, they thought I definitely had a case.

I showed her all the text messages and the messages on Facebook,

-and she definitely thought I had a case.

-They went to court.

The pub didn't attend the case and, instead, wrote a letter in their defence.

The judge saw the letter that she sent in and, basically,

the letter had nothing to do with the case.

He dismissed letter and awarded in my favour.

Emma was awarded £4,700 but despite the court order,

this hasn't been paid.

The circumstances are just...

We were old friends at one point and now there is nothing there.

It's been traumatic.

I still owe my mum and dad money, because I borrowed off them

while I was out of work.

It's still not good.

Feeling she had no other option if she was to get the money a court said she was rightfully owed,

Emma decided to call in the sheriffs.

If Emma is to get any of her money back,

she's relying on sheriff Pete's ability to convince the Golden Cross pub

their best interest is in paying this off here and now.

But as Pete knows only too well,

getting money out of a pub is never easy.

Yeah, I mean, we visit many pubs and, generally,

the brewery will own the fixtures and fittings,

or will have a debenture over the fixtures and fittings,

so, potentially, the assets...

the assets of the defendant might be nothing,

or it's possibly stock and cash that's in the till, maybe.

We got the director's name, a Miss Sharon Duxbury.

She manages the pub and is also a director, seemingly, of the limited company,

so hopefully, she'll be there tonight when we attend.

Moments later, they locate what they are looking for.

Number six... Yep, Golden Cross. Pull up outside.

They park up and head in.

And before they've got anywhere near the bar,

-they get lucky and run into pub manager Sharon Duxbury.

-Yeah?

Hiya. Is there somewhere we can have a chat, away from your customers?

We are enforcement officers. We've got a High Court Writ to attend here tonight.

At this point, we're asked to leave the pub.

We film from outside, as Pete explains why he's there.

It's in connection with a Miss Crook.

Yeah, it's gone through Croydon County Court,

then moved up to High Court for our enforcement

which is the reason for our visit tonight.

It's £4,845.08.

It was £4,642 originally.

I've come to collect the full amount tonight.

I'm commanded by the High Court judge to attend to seize goods

to the value of, with the intention to remove or collect the full amount.

The manager questions

why she hasn't been given any notice of the Sheriffs' visit.

We don't tell you that we're coming out

cos if we tell you we're coming out, people move assets.

So we don't tell you we're coming out.

This is the first you'll know of it being moved up to High Court, really.

The pub management are co-operative

but don't have the full amount owed there and then.

Pete explains the procedure for payment.

That's fine. What we've got to do, we've got to seize goods on site

so that's what he's gone off doing at the moment.

I've got to seize those items.

You then have five days,

so you need to get in touch with any third parties that might own them

or have an interest in those goods

to tell them they've been seized by the High court.

They then must write to us with proof of ownership

and then we take them off.

Keen to help the pub management out,

Pete outlines ways they can pay off the debt

without losing the contents of the pub.

Other option would be, I can take a part payment tonight

and then you can go into a monthly agreement.

I'm quite happy to do that, but I must take a payment tonight.

We've got a card machine, so Visa, debit card...

And it looks like success is on the cards.

The pub agrees to pay.

The only question is, how much they can raise tonight?

Pete comes outside to fetch the card machine.

She can't afford the full amount of four-eight today

but what she's going to do is pay us something like £1,000

and then potentially go into an arrangement.

The value of the goods within the pub is nowhere near the value of the debt

plus a lot of stuff from rental, etc,

so the best option in this case is to take the payment,

give her the option to start paying monthly to clear it off

and at least then the debt's cleared.

The fact the pub want to pay the debt is great news for Pete.

They can't pay in full,

so he'll have to negotiate the best deal he can for Emma.

Obviously, you tell me you haven't got the 485

so what can you pay me tonight?

The woman says she'll try and pay by card.

There'll be £905 on that, yeah?

Could you enter your PIN and press the green button, please? Thank you.

Are you paying something off this one as well?

Can you do a bit more, or...?

Wipe £1,500 off that.

It's a score for Pete.

And with that, it's time, gentlemen, please, for Pete and Dave.

'A debt card payment of £900,'

£100 in cash

and then she's had to borrow her partner's debit card

to pay another £200 on that. She didn't have the full amount.

There weren't really goods there to seize to the value of the full amount.

So that's a good result, yeah, as far as I can see.

Yeah, initial payment plus an offer to pay monthly to pay it off

so yeah, good result.

With a healthy part of the debt collected

and more promised as part of a payment plan,

it's a great result for Emma.

She'll have £1,200 coming her way soon

and regular payments promised to pay off the rest.

I've got a text from my solicitor

saying she's agreed to pay £100 a week,

so hopefully I will be getting something soon.

I am very pleased with that.

The Golden Cross manager Sharon Duxbury told us...

..at a time when the pub industry was struggling.

Since Lawrence and Kev visited Savile Row

and collected £1,500 from outfitter Nick Tentis,

despite the tailor's insistence that he'd already paid the debt,

he was unable to find any proof to back this up.

Instead, he paid off another £2,800

with the remainder of the £7,376 debt promised to follow.

And if he doesn't pay it,

Lawrence still has a number of expensive suits seized on paper,

which he can remove and sell if this money isn't forthcoming.

And since the Sheriffs' visit to SP Fleet Ltd in South London,

the garage have now paid the final £880 of the debt owed,

settling it once and for all.

But since we filmed, there's been no joy for the car dealer

and his attempts to recover the £16,000 he paid to CSFLPM Ltd

as a down payment on a car.

As the company is now in liquidation,

it's unlikely he'll see any of his money,

although he's still investigating other avenues to try

to recover what a court says is rightfully his.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd