Episode 2 The Sheriffs Are Coming

-Meet the sheriffs.

-Let's introduce ourselves.

Got an High Court writ to attend here.

If it's not paid, we'll remove the stock.

Their job is to get you your money back.

-It's about to get physical.

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

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

-We need to deal with it now.

-We're going to remove vehicles to that value.

-If you're acting on his authority, pay it.

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

Are you going to open up, sir, or am I going to force entry?

You need to pay this.

-..it's time to call the sheriffs.

-Don't put your hands on me!

I'm going to call the locksmith, effect entry into the premises and remove all the items.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

They're Enforcement Agents of the High Court,

and the law says they're on your side.

Just collected 42 grand.

Coming up...

The sheriffs are called to reclaim a London pub for its owners,

but one man inside is in no mood to move out.

-Give me my keys!

-Get out of my face, cos you're going.

-No! No!

-Get out my face.

-NO!

-Right, you're going.

Right, he's going down, he's going down.

This man sold his motorhome through a company he trusted,

but he didn't get all the money he was owed.

Obviously, this was putting financial strain on myself and my partner.

She thought that I was being used,

so it did drive a little bit of a wedge between us.

Sheriff Tommy is out to get him what he's due.

But our cameras are not welcome.

-I'm telling you right now, I'll get the

-BLEEP

-tape,

or you sort it out with me personally.

And a doctor in Kent wasn't paid for months of work she did.

He hadn't paid me, and then subsequently

discovering that there was malpractice against him,

it was difficult to accept.

So, the sheriffs are out...

That's a deadlock. You ain't going to get me in there.

..scaling walls to get her her pay.

KNOCKING

It's the early hours of the morning,

and a large team of sheriffs

have assembled in Lewisham town centre, in south-east London.

They've got a High Court writ of possession for a nearby building

and they intend to enforce it.

They will be led by Enforcement Agent Lawrence Grix.

It's a pub.

Four stories, we don't know how many people are in there,

and we're just going to split up over different floors

and clear 'em out systematically.

Sheriff Marc King is well prepared.

There's lights on on the first floor and the top floor,

so I'm presuming they're occupied.

All the lights look to be on downstairs in the bar as well.

Hopefully, this door's going to open nice and easy,

and then we'll just all creep round there.

Soon as the door's open, two, two and two, yeah?

A group of squatters have taken up residence

in former pub The Market Tavern.

But the sheriffs have a writ of possession

which gives them authority to reclaim it for its owners.

And that means they'll have to find a way

through a locked door to the property.

I'm going to carry a crowbar.

We believe we know what door they're using,

so we're going with plenty of equipment to get in.

We've got cutters, crowbars...

They're in, and are met by the sound no-one wants to hear...

BARKING

..a barking dog.

SNARLING

You got control of it, mate?

Come out and take control of it, yeah?

The dog belongs to one of the squatters inside.

Thankfully, someone is holding on to it.

And the plan now is to wake everyone up.

The squatters need to know that the sheriffs have arrived with a writ.

Wakey-wakey, rise and shine.

We've a writ of possession for the property. You've got to go.

You'll have about an hour, as long as you make an effort.

Oi, mate. Mate. Mate, wake up.

Wake up!

It's the sheriffs!

This giant teddy bear isn't causing any trouble.

And with most of the squatters now awake,

sheriff Kev McNally feels it's been a smooth operation.

We came up the stairs and there was a couple of...

one Alsatian and another dog. The Alsatian was growling a little bit.

but he didn't go for any of us, which was a result,

and the other one was fine, really.

so...keep them under control at the moment.

Last thing you want to do is get bitten at this time of the morning.

The sheriffs aim is to keep people as calm as possible

in a stressful situation,

and so far it's working.

We're just doing it as quick as possible.

They're packing up, we can see that.

So, as long as they getting on with it, we'll give them a bit of time.

It's when they're not getting on with it,

then they don't get the choice, they have to get out, then.

But they are packing up so...

But, just as the sheriffs are starting to relax

one of the squatters is losing his cool.

-You are disturbing me...

-Least of your worries.

-You're disturbing me with the light as well.

-Right, well, tough luck.

-Walk away then.

-Leave then.

-Walk away from the camera, then.

-I'm just telling you to get down the light.

-No.

-He can do whatever he likes with his light.

-He doesn't! He doesn't!

Yes, he can. If you don't like it, leave.

He didn't like the lights being shone in his face,

but an eviction is never an enjoyable experience.

Although one of the squatters is taking it all in his stride.

-HE GROWLS

-It's that zombie movie!

HE GROANS

The pub interior certainly looks like a bit of a horror story.

There's graffiti all over the walls...

..damage to the ceiling,

rubbish everywhere,

and in the cellar,

the beer pumps and electrical fittings are gone.

But art fan Kev can see a bright side.

Generally, where we go, there's generally nothing. It's all rubbish.

But you've got a bit there, actually, best bit we've seen for a while.

Bit of a square rigger.

Bit too many sails on it, but done quite well.

Always nice to see, as a street art fan.

Elsewhere, Lawrence isn't convinced

the squatters are taking the situation seriously enough.

All right, we're in a squat! Bleugh!

Right. Come on you lot, instead of standing round, why not start moving some stuff out? Yeah?

-We are moving stuff out, man, five minutes... Relax.

-Well, doesn't look like it to me. Come on. Crack on.

-Stop lounging about, start moving stuff out...

-Give me a minute, relax!

-..and put it in the van.

-You wake me up

-BLEEP

-at five in the morning and you want to all these people...

-Paid your tax?

Although the sheriffs can demand people leave immediately,

they are trying to let the squatters have enough time to gather belongings.

But Lawrence is running out of patience with the polite approach.

They've got loads of stuff piled up here by the doors

then standing round smoking weed and jibber-jabbering,

so they need to start focusing, and getting their stuff out.

-AS MR T:

-Quit your jibber jabber! I pity the fool!

SQUATTERS MOAN

There you go, man.

Outside, the sun is coming up,

and inside, the sheriffs have found a surprise so odd

they need a picture of it.

-He's built a bed over two of the toilets.

-Disgusting!

Not the nicest of rooms, is it?

I suppose it's en-suite.

But downstairs, the laughing is definitely over.

One of the squatters is using a tattered piece of paper

to block the camera.

Lawrence wants him to stop, and as a sheriff with a High Court writ,

he has the legal authority to remove him.

Here, thank you.

Oh! Remember, it's my piece of paper.

-Right, I think you're going out, aren't you?

-Remember, it's my paper!

-Out! Out!

-Remember, it's my paper.

-Out.

-Remember, it's my paper.

SOMEONE SHOUTS IN SPANISH

-You cannot touch me.

-Yes, I can.

Yes, I can.

Out!

-You cannot touch me.

-Yes, I can.

-Come on, mate, you've been told, now out, go on.

-FEMALE SQUATTER:

-Hey! Hey!

-Do what you're told, you've been told!

-Don't touch him, man, don't touch him!

-Whoa, whoa, whoa!

-Don't touch him?

-You come in at five in the morning to my

-BLEEP

-house, and....

-It's not your house though, is it?

-Yeah, yeah, it's my house. What are you doing?

-OUT.

-Don't touch me.

-Well get out, then.

-Don't touch me.

-Get out.

SOMEONE SHOUTS IN SPANISH

This man doesn't want to leave quietly.

Sheriff Kev McNally feels he needs to be removed from the building,

but it soon turns into a stand-off.

These are my keys, my keys. My keys.

-What are you doing that for?

-My keys.

-Get out of my face.

-My keys.

-Get out of my face.

-No.

-Get out of my face.

-No.

-Julio!

-No.

-Right, you're going.

-Julio...

Right, he's going down.

-SHOUTING

-What are you doing, man?

The sheriffs will lift the man clean out of the building.

The best way of keeping Lawrence and Kev's team and the squatters safe

seems to be removing him.

-Get out!

-It's rented, or something, it's rented.

You're going out. Please.

You had to get one, didn't you, that's gobby.

He was mouthing off a little bit, something about his keys.

Not really sure what it was.

SPEAKING SPANISH

But anyway, kept shouting. Getting in my face a little bit, and there's only so much, you know...

I don't have to tolerate that.

We're here to get everyone out, and once you start being...

being like that, aggressive inside, then you've got to go.

And it looks like everything bar the kitchen sink will be joining him.

No-one left up here now.

SIRENS

Outside, a team of technicians will secure the building,

all at a great cost to the landlord.

But they will be hoping that

squatters won't be able to get back in.

It's all secure now,

there's now a metal door on downstairs, where we went in,

and the contractors are still there, just...

They're now secured in the building,

and they're going round doing some other bits and pieces for the client.

All in all, another job done.

Cup of coffee, off for a bit of breakfast.

And the squatters haven't allowed the incident to dampen their spirits.

-SQUATTER:

-Adios! Say goodbye! Thank you, thank you!

APPLAUSE

You don't know who I am, you don't know who you're messing with! Yeah. No-one.

THEY BEEP THE HORN

Today, sheriff Tommy Coyle is in Northampton,

looking for a home to go to.

A mobile home, that is.

He's here because of an unpaid debt

after the sale of a recreational vehicle

that has now led to a local company

owing money to a former client.

We are in Northampton, I'm on my way to see an individual,

a Mr Randle, for a large balance of 30,000.

I'm just fingers crossed it's a trading address,

and obviously I'll be looking for motorhomes.

Tommy is heading for a company known as Itchyfeet,

who deal in luxury motorhomes.

If he can't get cash payment,

he's thinking there might well be goods to take control of.

If there's a motorhome there in his name,

and he's totally unwilling to make any payment,

or even an agreement to pay then, unfortunately, we could escalate it

and remove then and there.

Tommy is on his way to see the Itchyfeet company.

They owe the whopping £30,000

to former soldier Kev Robinson of Skegness.

He used to be the proud owner

of this top-of-the-range American mobile home,

which he bought from Itchyfeet for £70,000.

We were on holiday. We had a look round Itchyfeet motor homes,

and fell in love, instantly.

It had everything that we wanted. The big bed in the rear bedroom,

the leather P sofa, air suspension,

power steering, power brakes, air brakes, absolutely gorgeous.

It was just like sitting in an armchair.

The eight-litre vehicle was so big and powerful

Kev needed to have an HGV licence to drive it.

But Kev had a heart scare less than a year later,

and felt it was unsafe for him to drive such a large motorhome.

I had a bad night one night,

and it was thought that I had a heart attack and everything else.

In the meantime, my HGV licence was up for renewal,

and because of the heart scare I just handed my HG licence back,

so I couldn't drive the motorhome.

It broke my heart, really, because it was...

..it was just a dream come true.

Kev contacted Eric Randle from Itchyfeet,

the company he originally bought the motorhome from.

They agreed to try and sell it on his behalf,

and take commission on the sale.

So, I agreed with Mr Randle that I would get £60,000 for the motorhome.

The Itchyfeet company put it up for sale at £65,000.

That figure included a £5,000 cut for Itchyfeet.

Michael Randle, the son of the owner, dealt with Kevin.

I checked the website every week, phone calls...

In fact, they took it to a motorhome show

and it was bought at a motorhome show.

The vehicle was sold,

and the Itchyfeet company paid off over £30,0000 of finance

that Kevin still had left on the vehicle.

Kev was expecting Itchyfeet to take their cut,

and give the rest to him, but as part of the deal,

they took on another mobile home in part exchange.

Eric Randle sent me a bank transfer of £10,000.

The remainder of the money, which would have been about £16,000

was still owed,

and I was told that because there was a trade in part exchange

against my motorhome,

they would have to sell the part-exchange motorhome

before I could get the remaining money from them.

Kev was confident he'd get the remaining money

when the part-exchange home was sold.

And, in time, it was.

The part-exchange motorhome was sold,

and I noticed on the website again...

..that "Sale Pending, Vehicle Sold", so I phoned Michael at Itchyfeet,

I was told then that they'd taken a European motorhome in part exchange,

and I won't get paid anything until they get rid of that motor home.

This was going on for 18 months, now, and I getting very worried.

Obviously, this was putting financial strain

on myself and my partner.

She thought that I was being used,

so it did drive a little bit of a wedge between us.

With the remaining balance unpaid,

Kev decided to take his case to court.

Itchyfeet attended, but the judge found in Kev's favour,

and he was awarded the remaining balance plus costs.

A total of over £30,000.

But even getting that turned into a battle,

and he had no choice but to call the sheriffs.

Mr Randle's ignored every Order from the court, on any payment times.

That's the only way forward now, is the sheriffs.

On the road in Northampton,

sheriff Tommy has located the Itchyfeet office.

Yeah, well, this looks like high value assets here, so...

let's go have a chat with Mr Randle.

There you go, Itchyfeet.

Tommy is itching to get inside.

Hello there. Is Mr Randle about?

Could you get him on the phone? I'm an Enforcement Agent.

Situation is we're here with a High Court writ of control, today,

to execute it.

Basically, take control of goods, in lieu of payment.

The receptionist gets boss Mr Randle on the phone straight away.

Hello there, sir.

My name's Tom Coyle, I'm an Enforcement Agent.

Unfortunately, we've got a High Court writ of control for yourself, today.

To who, sorry? Yeah.

The owner is telling Tommy he's put in an appeal about the case,

and he thinks he doesn't have to pay.

I'll see what's going on...

Yeah, and then I'll have a chat with you again.

OK.

Tommy is confident that the writ is still live,

and he CAN take payment,

but will give the business a chance

to find any paperwork that says otherwise.

Whilst they're doing that,

he is looking at assets he could take control of.

(I've started taking regies down, looking at assets, valuing things up,

(because I don't know how it'll go.)

At this point we are asked to leave the premises,

but Tommy has confirmed that the writ is still live,

and he's expecting goods or money to pay Kev Robinson what he's owed.

Well, getting somewhere now.

Mr Randle's on his way back,

it's going to take about an hour and a half.

He's going to be paying £10,000 today, by transfer.

We're signing a controlled goods agreement,

which I mentioned earlier,

for the balance to be paid, of £20,775, on this coming Friday.

So it's looking like a bit of a result. I've just got to wait for him to travel back,

he should be about an hour and a half,

so I've just got to sit down and wait for him.

A payment of £10,000 on the day,

and the remaining 20,000 by the end of the week is a result.

And whilst Tommy waits for the owner and his son,

he's getting a good look at the vehicles on the forecourt.

They may be company assets.

Soon enough, Mr Randle's son Michael is back,

but he's not happy to see a camera following this case.

Mate, I'm telling you now,

-unless you got a

-BLEEP

-warrant or a

-BLEEP

-court order to film us, you're not doing it.

-CAMERAMAN:

-Want me to call the police now?

-If you want.

-Yeah, I will.

Inside the building,

business owner Mr Randle is dealing peacefully with Tommy,

but as our camera waits on the pavement,

Michael Randle returns to the entrance

and is demanding to be given any footage shot.

Yeah, you've been asked to leave, I now want to take this back,

-you have no

-BLEEP

-right to film me at all.

-I'm telling you right now, I'll get the

-BLEEP

-tape,

or you sort it out with me personally.

-I'll call the police then.

-Just hurry up, mate. All right.

After a tense moment, the camera is turned off.

And a short while later, Tommy is on his way out,

and he's got something for Kev.

Took me into the office, made a 5,000 transfer. Paid the other 5,000...

with cash,

which cleared them out in the building.

I receipted them for that, got him to sign a controlled goods agreement,

which is for him to pay the remainder of 20,775 on the Friday,

which gives him two days to get this sorted.

His son is very angry about the camera being there today,

so he weren't too pleased at all.

Asked me to leave, a couple of occasions,,

when he come into the office, initially.

The father was a lot more calmer, er...

quite a decent bloke,

and then, yeah, a good result today.

Before paying out the remainder,

Mr Randle went back to court to appeal,

but the judge found in Kev's favour again,

and he finally received the remainder of his money.

It takes such a weight off your shoulders. And...

-Party!

-HE LAUGHS

Thanks, Tommy, it's a big up to you, matey. Thank you.

Sheriff Kev McNally is out today,

and chasing payments for his clients along with colleague Marc Newton.

They're no strangers to following up court cases

over car sales that have gone wrong.

We are...in Essex...

..and we're going to the Auto Car Exchange.

It's a second-hand car dealers.

Apparently, according to our notes,

we've had a previous case against this guy

and it was a paid-in-full at the time.

A year previously, Marc visited the garage with Tony.

-Huh?

-Ain't got a lot in here.

-Looks a bit chavvy.

The owner said he knew about the debt,

but insisted he shouldn't have to pay today

because he'd applied to pay in instalments.

I made an application to court, that's what they asked me to do.

All right. Unfortunately, this is still a live writ,

they've not put a stay on the writ at all.

We've a copy of his letter to the court,

refusing the offer of payment by instalments.

If he's refused it, why haven't they told me that?

I don't know. What happens now is, if he hasn't got his payment,

he's entitled to take it to the High Court, which is what he's done.

That's the writ.

That's your bit, now, cos it's now £3,700.

He wasn't happy, but Marc eventually made it clear

a High Court writ needs to be paid.

What's the situation?

We need to collect the amount that's outstanding.

Do you take credit card?

Yeah, we take card. There's a 5% surcharge on a credit card, though.

5%!

Thank you. All right.

-All right, cheers. Bye-bye.

-Cheers.

Payment was made, and the sheriffs left

with the money their client was owed.

Today, they're back with a whole new case

and now the pressure is all on Kev.

We're looking for £2,353.

So hopefully the cars will be there,

be worth some money,

and we'll get paid.

Coming down the street, Marc spots the premises.

-Yeah, yeah.

-What number is it?

-685.

That car on the end, there.

And now Marc remembers.

-It was me.

-So you got paid in full?

-Yeah.

-What was he like?

He was all right.

He's quite a nice bloke, actually. He weren't, you know, like,

you know when you get second-hand car dealers.

But he wasn't like that, at all.

This is an old case though.

So they're hoping it should be a straightforward case.

Hiya, mate. Is the governor about?

-I'll just go and call him.

-Yeah, no worries.

We'll just have a look around,

and see if we can see anything while we're waiting for him,

but the guy's rung him, and he said he's on his way down.

There's certainly plenty of motors to take control of,

if the garage doesn't pay cash.

-Hello.

-Hello, you all right?

-Yes, thanks.

-You all right? How you doing?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-I had enough of it last time, thanks very much.

We can't film inside the office,

but the arrival of the sheriffs

has confused the owner of Auto Car Exchange.

He's saying he's never heard of the case against him.

It seems this particular case relates to a car

that was bought in 2008,

but the garage owner says he has no knowledge of it.

He says he's not paying out on a case he knows nothing about,

but after a little bit of digging into the company's history,

Marc thinks he can see the problem.

The company was based in this building, but then moved out,

and so they claim they missed all the official letters

informing them they were being taken to court.

They've now moved back into this building

and are trading from here again,

but say they have no record of the case that was brought against them.

Confusion over, but the bad news is

they still have to pay.

The company owner asks Marc for more time to pay up.

Marc suggests that if he doesn't pay today

the sheriffs will have to take control of vehicles,

and there are plenty of those.

So the garage pay up in full. £2,353.

The owner expressed surprise about the court case,

as the buyer brought an independent mechanic

to inspect the car prior to purchase.

-See you later. Cheers, bye-bye.

-Cheers. Bye-bye.

I came to this guy before, about 18 months ago,

and paid up in full, then. No dispute over that.

You know, he'd just been ill-advised.

And then, we're back here again today, for a case that was...

Well, what, four and a half years old,

which he says he doesn't know nothing about,

but again, he's a nice enough guy

and he's paid up straight away,

exactly the same as last time.

Both times he's been straight as a die. He's just paid us straight away.

You know, he's had a little thing about it

cos he didn't know about this, but he knows we're there to do a job,

and he knows he's got to pay at that stage, and he's done that.

It would be a lot nicer if all car dealers were like him.

It's been another good day for the sheriffs.

There have been sheriffs since Saxon times,

and they only enforce High Court writs.

And I'm here with a court order to collect the sum of £34,311.

If you've been awarded money by a court but haven't been paid,

the sheriffs can enforce a writ and get you what you're owed.

And it hasn't been paid, so he's transferred it up to the High Court, for enforcement purposes.

If the debtor won't pay,

they have the power to remove goods

and have them sold at auction to pay off the debt.

Are you going to pay in full, sir?

Right, I'll get the crowbar out of my van.

A High Court writ costs £60.

If the sheriffs are successful,

there's nothing more for the client to pay.

So, there's 6,900 there.

Paid it straightaway, so... It's all good.

If they're unsuccessful,

the only cost is a compliance fee of £75 plus VAT.

for each enforcement.

THEY LAUGH

High Court Enforcement Agents often start the day early,

when they hope to catch a debtor before they leave for work.

So an early alarm call

for Lawrence and Kev sees them in Kent this morning.

Cold, wet, miserable morning.

Residential we're going to, always best to get there nice and early.

We are looking for a Doctor...Lakshminarayana.

The amount outstanding here is £8,670,

so, a fair amount of money we're looking for this morning.

Wake 'em up,

give them the good news.

He was the director.

But in reality, Lawrence and Kev know

this case is unlikely to end in payment.

They fear the man they are after has actually left the country,

but they want to be certain.

Nice and wide for me.

-Say "Ah."

-Aah.

The person they're here to help is Arati Patel from Kent.

She qualified as a GP in the 1990s

and has worked as a locum doctor ever since.

My father was a doctor, and there were lots of doctors in the family,

so I was surrounded by that, so I think that probably spurred me on.

I had children, so I decided,

rather than join a practice and a fixed surgery,

that I would do locum work,

which gives me flexibility of hours, and holiday periods, and so on.

Cough for me.

Arati was offered a job at the Anglesea surgery in Woolwich

that seemed to suit her perfectly.

The practice was run by Dr Lakshminarayana,

who was never actually at the surgery.

It was his practice, but he wasn't working there,

so we had a number of different doctors working there, for him.

After a while she began to notice

that not everything at the practice was perfect.

I got paid regularly for the first eight months or so of my work there.

As time went on, the payments got later and later,

and then in instalments,

so I wasn't getting paid the full amount.

I didn't press the practice for my payments,

I just took it as it came, really.

But other staff weren't as trusting as Arati.

Talking to the staff, it seemed there were a few rumblings

that things weren't right financially.

Arati continued working at the practice,

and whilst the rumours continued, something else stopped...

her paycheques.

It was awkward.

Doctor Lakshminarayana was responsible for paying her,

not the local primary care trust, the PCT.

It still hadn't even really occurred to me that I wouldn't get paid.

One day, I turned up for work at eight in the morning

to find the practice had been boarded up.

The PCT had come in the night before.

When I arrived, in fact,

there were a number of patients waiting to see me

who had appointments that day who were also, you know, in limbo.

I managed to get hold of the practice manager on the phone

who said that the practice had been closed down, and, er...

yeah, so I just left and had to go home.

Arati learned that Dr Lakshminarayana was,

at that time, suspected of assisting to falsify immigration documents,

and was being investigated by the General Medical Council.

That meant she was unlikely to see her missing pay.

She contacted the local PCT.

They said because my contract was with him,

and he was my employer,

I had to take up the matter directly with him.

I was obviously very troubled and upset by the whole thing.

and then there was the financial burden as well.

Arati tried to track down Dr Lakshminarayana,

to get her missing three-months' salary.

She couldn't find him,

but did discover that he'd been suspended as a doctor,

and rumours suggested he had left the country.

It made me feel sad that he had a lack of patient care.

And you know, the fact that he hadn't paid me,

and then subsequently discovering there was malpractice against him,

and that he was suspended, it...

..it was difficult to accept.

Arati took her case against the absent doctor to court.

He did not attend to explain his actions,

and the court found in her favour.

But she's never been able to track the doctor down for payment.

My last resort, I think, is to ask the sheriffs now to go in,

and that's been a tough decision.

Getting paid is all up to the sheriffs,

but they're not confident.

They've been searching at several addresses,

and have spoken to a member of the doctor's family

about his whereabouts.

We've previously been to an address in Keston.

We were advised that the debtor is actually retired, some years ago, and is now living in India.

But he did confirm that this address in Gravesend is where he comes to

when he's in the country.

All their research suggests the debtor isn't in the UK,

but Kev will have to brave the elements to find out.

It's one degree outside.

The sheriffs' powers cover them to operate in England and Wales,

so if the debtor has left for India,

he'll be out of their reach, and out of the cold.

-Look, that's it there, innit.

-I've been here.

The sheriffs have found the house

in complete darkness.

Yeah, it's locked.

I'm cold and wet, it's freezing.

Right, well, obviously, we've found the house now.

The gate's locked, it's looking a bit dark, but there is...

-There is a car in there.

-Yeah.

-64 plate.

-Yeah.

But a quick check in his information pack sent from the office

reveals the car is off limits.

So it's not his.

Know what this means, don't you, mate?

Kev's just about to go over the wall...

..which is why he doesn't wear nice trousers and shoes any more.

But Kev's big worry isn't his clothes.

He thinks there's a guard dog.

That's a definite doghouse.

-So you're keen on going over then?

-Well...I can do.

Not scared of them, I just don't want to get bitten by them...again.

I've got a habit of getting bitten by people's blogs.

As Kev is worried about a possible canine encounter,

Lawrence sees if there's any way through the locked gate.

There's a deadlock. You ain't going to get me in there.

We could get some Lurpak?

Lawrence isn't keen to be buttered up.

Let's just leave paperwork, we know the vehicle's not his.

How do you know that?

Kev has decided he is willing to risk a dog encounter after all.

Before you drop down, just...

..make a noise.

There you are.

Kev!

No dog, so Kev heads for the front door.

KNOCKING

You can see if you can open the gate, but I don't think you will.

No, I can see it.

Kev's had a good look through the windows,

and there really is no sign of life inside the house.

If it was a case of we thought he was in there,

I'd be straight over.

Lawrence won't be scaling the wall.

If Doctor Lakshminarayana is even in the UK,

he isn't here.

The sheriffs will have to keep looking,

and, for today at least, there is no money for Arati.

Let's go back to the van and we'll do the paperwork.

It's a disappointing end to the visit.

KEV GROANS

That's cold!

-Dry!

-My head is so cold!

I don't think anyone was in,

it looked really tidy inside the house, as if, you know,

when someone leaves it when they go on holiday sort of thing,

so perhaps he does live there, and just er, well, he lives abroad,

-and just uses the house when he comes back.

-Yeah, I think...

That vehicle probably belongs to somebody else,

they just let them park it there.

Just not going to know at the moment.

Now they're back in the warm,

they check to see if any other information exists

that might point to any other UK address

for the missing doctor.

But the writ only names the man himself.

He is or was a director of companies.

One of them's dissolved.

One of the companies we were given details of never existed,

but there is one company still going.

Him and his son are joint directors,

but that one looks to be on its knees, but unfortunately...

..where we've got him as a defendant, and not the company,

we can't, you know, we can't go after company assets,

so we're stuck, really, chasing after somebody

that potentially lives in India, which is not going to go anywhere.

It's a bit strange that there's a vehicle parked on the drive.

But it does look like it's potentially somebody Indian,

who's living there, because of the ornaments and things like that.

So, it is probably a case of he literally just uses that house

when he comes back into the country.

Even if you don't collect, it's nice to sort of encounter the debtor,

and know you're on the right trail,

but on this one, we're sort of left where we started, to be honest.

The sheriffs plan to continue the search

in the hope of getting Arati her money back.

She later learned that Dr Lakshminarayana

isn't a doctor any more.

He was struck off for giving false information on medical records.

It makes me really angry and frustrated

that he's been allowed to get away with it, really.

I'm not asking for anything that is not rightfully mine.

I'm hoping that the sheriffs will resolve this,

as it rightly should be.

It's 11 o'clock in the morning,

and Lawrence and Kev are on the trail of another company

that hasn't paid a debt.

We are just south of the river at the moment, Bankside.

We are looking for the Eden Roof Company Ltd,

and we're looking for a large amount of money here,

we're looking for £23,408.

That's a big old debt we've got here.

It's got a note here as well,

saying the defendant applied to have this matter set aside,

but he was unsuccessful.

And therefore they were awarded costs of £820.

The defendant has sent a cheque for the £820 to them,

however the full remaining debt is still outstanding.

So we're not far away now, be there in a minute.

The company the sheriffs are visiting

is based in the Hop Exchange building

in a historic part of south London.

-That's the Hop Exchange.

-This, innit.

Oh, that's the German beer house I was in the other day.

Yeah, where they do the steins.

Let's turn up here.

Borough market.

-And even if we park here, we can walk through the market.

-Yeah.

Even arriving before the crowds, there's no such luck.

Well, that wasn't very successful at finding somewhere to park, was it, going round there?

Eventually, however, they do find a space.

Having parked the van,

they enter the Hop Exchange.

Hello there.

Eden Roof. What number we got?

-Oh, 56 to 59.

-Yeah.

-All right.

-56 to 59.

-Got to sign in, Kev.

-Sign us in, then.

In Victorian times, the ornate Hop Exchange

was the centre of hop trading for London's brewing industry.

Now, it's Grade II listed, and home to smart offices.

Lawrence has spotted something with a prestigious parking space.

Nice old Formula One car.

Judging by that bundle of snakes coming out of the back, it's a V8.

Time to introduce themselves,

and ask for £23,408.

-Hello there. Eden Roof Company?

-Yes.

-Hiya. My name is Mr Grix.

My colleague and I are Enforcement Agents.

We've got a High Court writ to execute against Eden Roof Company.

It doesn't take staff long to get the absent boss on the phone.

Hello there, sir.

My name's Mr Grix. My colleague and I are Enforcement Agents.

We're here today with a High Court writ against the Eden Roof Company.

I believe it's supplies that you haven't paid for.

We were ordered out today to take control of goods

to the value of £23,408.65.

And the only way to prevent further action is to pay in full.

Are you able to pay that in full, sir?

Yeah, I'm aware you're not here at the moment.

Are there company funds available?

He says he can't pay in full, but offers a small part-payment.

It's not a case of paying an amount on account, sir.

We are ordered out today to take control of goods to clear the debt,

even if that means clearing every asset of the company,

and basically making you unable to trade.

It needs to be paid in full, sir.

It should have been paid at the CCJ stage.

No, we're not here to spread out a payment, sir.

We're here to take control of assets.

Despite Lawrence's tough approach,

the goods in the office are worth nothing like the £23,408 he needs.

Lawrence lets the man know that if they did remove them,

they wouldn't be stopping there.

We can go to any address in England and Wales

where the company does have assets, and remove those assets.

That seems to have done the trick,

The man offers a much larger part-payment.

And how much are we talking about, sir?

Right, and you're able to do that immediately, are you?

If you want to go set your laptop up...

Yes.

If you want to give me a buzz when you've done it...

OK, bye-bye.

Ten G now.

-Coming round, is he?

-And then the rest by the end of the month.

Lawrence is pleased,

and moments later staff present him

with a printout of the bank transfer.

Righty-ho. I'll check with my office.

Would you be able to check the banking out for me, please?

Ten grand.

Yep, that's it.

Lovely, thank you very much.

Cheers, bye.

-Is that in there?

-That's in the account.

Anybody able to get him on the phone?

The boss?

Lawrence isn't finished with him yet.

Hello, sir.

Right, we've got the £10,000.

That's actually in our account already, so I'm going to issue a receipt for that.

If I put balance in full by the end of February,

as long as it's cleared, you won't see us again.

OK.

Erm... No problem. What I need to do,

I need one of your colleagues here

to sign what's known as a controlled goods agreement,

whereby the goods in the office

basically become the property of the court

until such time as the debt is clear,

so if you don't keep to the arrangement

and pay in full by the end of February,

we'll be back to remove the goods.

OK.

Thank you.

Yep, sign there, and print next to it, yeah? So, sign on that line.

OK. I'll leave this with you. That's your copy of the receipt.

OK. So, providing that gets paid by the end of February,

we won't be back.

Paperwork done...

Cheers, bye-bye.

..the sheriffs head for the door with a smile.

They've been here less than 20 minutes,

and collected £10,000.

That went fairly well, really, to be honest.

We went straight into the office,

and it turns out the staff own their own laptops and things,

so there are no real company assets there.

He paid £10,000 upfront today,

which way, way covers any assets that were in that office,

and if he pays the balance at the end of the month, it'll be happy days.

It's been another successful job for Lawrence and Kev,

and means another claimant getting the money a court says was theirs.