Latest news with #legalfees
Khaleej Times
15-07-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
UAE: Driver ordered to pay Dh51,450 after running red light, not paying traffic fines
A court in Abu Dhabi ordered a man to pay Dh51,450 to his former employer, after he ran a red light and failed to repay the traffic fines the company covered on his behalf. According to Abu Dhabi Labour Court documents, the company filed a lawsuit against the driver, demanding he repay the amount it had to cover due to his violation. The company also requested a 5% late payment fee from the date of the claim until full settlement, along with legal costs and lawyer fees. As reported by Al Khaleej local newspaper, the company argued that the driver, who was employed as a taxi driver with a total salary of Dh800, committed a traffic violation by running a red light. While the driver was fined Dh3,000, the company ended up paying Dh50,000 in penalties, plus Dh1,450 in transport-related fees. Despite multiple attempts, the former employee did not reimburse the company. The court reviewed the driver's salary report, work contract, and other documents in the case file. It confirmed that the driver was employed by the company under a fixed-term contract as a taxi driver. The company provided authorities with a proof that it paid Dh51,450. The court referred to Article 1 of the Evidence Law, which says that the plaintiff must prove their right, and the defendant has the right to refute it, with the burden of proof resting on the plaintiff. Since the company showed clear proof of payment, the court ruled in its favour and ordered the driver to pay back the full amount.
National Post
08-07-2025
- National Post
Autistic U.K. teen who told family 'I'm going to Canada' later detained in Japan on drug charges
A British family has set up a crowdfunding campaign in the hopes of raising money for the legal fees of Sean Stephenson, an autistic teenager who was arrested at Tokyo airport on June 21 with a suitcase containing 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine. Article content The family is adamant that Stephenson was allegedly the victim of gang members who befriended him and then apparently pressured him into travelling, first to Portugal, then Toronto, and finally Tokyo, where the arrest was made. Article content Article content Article content Ami Lee, Stephenson's older sister, told National Post by phone that his disappearance surprised the entire family. Article content Article content 'Because of his autism he says things but sometimes it's not always true,' she said. 'He kept saying, 'I'm going to Canada.' We didn't actually think that he was going until we woke up and he was gone. We now know that he flew from Heathrow to Portugal and then to Canada. He stayed in Toronto for five days before he flew to Japan. And then at Japan, Tokyo is where he got caught and arrested.' Article content Lee said Stephenson's original trip to Heathrow airport in London was with an older man who had befriended him. She said everything they know about the 18-year-old's movements is through the information provided by their lawyer. Article content 'The man took Sean's phone and gave him a Nokia phone so Sean couldn't have contact with us,' she said. 'The man arranged for Sean to meet with another gentleman at a Toronto mall.' Article content That man, she said, as per information shared by her lawyer, allegedly gave him the suitcase filled with drugs to bring to Tokyo. 'They told him it was money, that it was fine, 'you're just dropping it to our friend.' And obviously Sean believed them.' Article content Article content Lee said that they have hired an English-speaking lawyer in Japan to help her brother, but that the family hasn't been able to speak to him directly. Article content Article content 'He's on a no-contact ban,' she said. 'He's not allowed contact with us so we're paying for a lawyer. We only know by what she's telling us.' Article content She added that the family is particularly worried because of her brother's childlike nature. 'He's 18 but his solicitor said you can tell he's a child,' she said. 'He's very child-minded. That's part of his autism.' Article content Her page at has raised a little more than 1,000 pounds (about $2,000 Canadian) as of Tuesday. Article content 'Help us bring Sean home,' the page reads. 'We are raising urgent funds for our beloved brother … who has been detained in Japan after being misled and exploited by individuals who took advantage of his vulnerability.' Article content In continues: 'Sean is a kind, gentle, and trusting young man with autism and multiple physical and mental health challenges. Though legally an adult, he has a much younger mental age and has always been eager to make friends — a trait that, heartbreakingly, was manipulated by those with far worse intentions. Sean has never been in trouble with the law. He lives at home in London, where he helps care for our unwell mother. He's also a devoted uncle to his nine nieces and nephews.' Article content The page concludes: 'Sean is not a criminal — he is a vulnerable young man who was preyed upon by those who saw his innocence as an opportunity. He deserves to be home with his family, not lost in a system he cannot navigate alone.' Article content A petition at is also trying to raise awareness of Stephenson's case. Article content 'Sean is currently in a Japanese prison after being found with Meth in a locked suitcase,' the petition reads. 'Sean has said he did not know what was in the case, but was threatened with having his legs broken and harm to his family if he didn't take it with him on a flight to Japan.' Article content It adds: 'We are taking this petition to the Japanese Embassy and the Foreign Office to ask that Sean's needs be taken into account.' Article content Lee said the family has gone to the police but added: 'The U.K. police have been no help whatsoever. So we're trying our best to get him off but obviously it's a high conviction rate out there. Japan has a 99.9 per cent conviction rate for that. It's a very serious crime in Japan but we're working with these lawyers to get all his medical forms and everything together.' Article content The case has received coverage in the British press, including stories in the Daily Mail and the Mirror. The Mirror quoted a spokesperson for Britain's National Crime Agency, who said: 'Investigations abroad were a matter for local authorities.' They added: 'The NCA's international functions can facilitate U.K. Law Enforcement to international requests. This remains a matter for the Met Police and you may speak to the FCDO regarding any consular assistance.' Article content A spokesperson for the country's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) then told the Mirror: 'We are supporting a British man who is detained in Japan and are in contact with the local authorities.' Article content The Daily Mail noted a case last year in which Australian national Donna Nelson was jailed for six years after being found guilty of smuggling 2 kilograms of meth into Tokyo, despite her claims she had been the victim of an online romance scam. Prosecutors had asked for a 10-year sentence and a $30,000 fine after she was caught with the drugs concealed in the bottom of her suitcase. Article content Stephenson's mother, Star Lee, told the Mail: 'I'm just so sad for Sean. I can't explain how I am feeling. It's a traumatic experience for all the family. We have not been allowed any direct contact with him. We hear all these bad things about prisons abroad. We don't know what's happening and we are just praying he is safe.' Article content
Telegraph
03-07-2025
- Telegraph
Pensioner loses £280,000 planning row over inches of land
A judge has lambasted a pensioner's 'ridiculous' planning row over a few inches of space which landed her with a £280k bill. High Court judge Sir Anthony Mann told 81-year-old Christel Naish that her complaints over a tap and pipe 'don't matter' and added the row was a 'ridiculous piece of litigation'. Ms Naish sparked the feud seven years ago after claiming her neighbour's garden tap and pipe were 'trespassing' on the 'few inches' that separate their homes. Last year, a judge at the Mayors and City County Court, found neighbours Dr Jyotibala Patel and her husband innocent. However, Ms Naish escalated the row by launching an appeal – which was thrown out this week. During the appeal hearing, Sir Anthony Mann said: 'Hundreds of thousands of pounds about a tap and a pipe that doesn't matter. 'You don't care about the pipe and the tap, so why does it matter, for goodness' sake, where the boundary lies? It seems to me to be a ridiculous piece of litigation – on both sides, no doubt.' Sir Anthony ordered the pensioner to pay 65pc of her neighbour's legal fees, roughly £100k, which adds to the six-figure bill for her own costs. The appeal process added another £30k to her charge, the court heard. Dr Patel said she was 'terrorised' by the 'petty and vindictive' complaints which forced her and her husband to sue. The gap between Ms Naish and Dr Patel's houses in Ilford, east London, is too narrow for a person to comfortably fit through. Ms Naish originally lived in the home as a teenager with her parents, before moving back permanently in 2001 after the death of her father. Dr Patel and her husband bought the property next door 12 years later for £450k. The couple's barrister, Paul Wilmshurst, told the judge the dispute began after Ms Naish complained about the tap and pipe. He said the couple felt forced to sue after the 'blight' on their home's value caused by the dispute.
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Police pushing for almost £3,000 in legal fees from grieving domestic abuse campaigner
A grieving domestic abuse campaigner is being chased for almost £3,000 of legal fees by a 'vindictive' police force after she took them to court over her niece's death. Lorna McMahon claimed Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had neglected to investigate the potential role of domestic violence in the case of her family member Teresa McMahon, who was found dead in her flat in August 2021 aged 43. She suggested the force should have looked more deeply into the impact of her niece's former partner Robert Chalmers. But an inquest disagreed and ruled that Teresa, who had been an ITV journalist, took her own life and 'no other person forced her to do that'. Following a watchdog's decision to refuse her request for a reinvestigation, Ms McMahon lost a legal action. Now GMP are chasing £2,778.40 in legal fees despite being urged by a High Court judge to think 'very carefully' about whether this was a good idea, the Telegraph reports. Judge Matthew Butt KC denied the aunt's application for the costs order to be delayed until all matters regarding the 'inadequate investigation' into her niece's death had finished. He confirmed he did not possess the power to grant such a request but said the heartbreaking circumstances of the case called into question whether it was right to pursue the legal costs. The judge said: 'I would urge the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to consider very carefully whether, in all of the circumstances, it would be right to seek to enforce the costs order against Ms McMahon given the tragic death of her beloved niece, the recent death of Teresa's mother, Barbara, the health problems Ms McMahon suffers from, and her limited means.' He added he had been impressed by the 'dedication, eloquence and determination' of the aunt in her bid to secure a reinvestigation. Judge Butt continued: 'I have also read a letter to the claimant from Queen Camilla in which she expresses how she is full of admiration for her work.' The IOPC decided not to chase the costs but GMP pushed on with retrieving the legal fees from Ms McMahon. In a letter to the force, she wrote: 'I find it absolutely vexatious and vindictive that GMP's police chief, Stephen Watson, appears to have singled me out when choosing to enforce this particular cost order, especially since Mr Justice Matthew Butt urged GMP not to pursue the cost order made against me considering all the circumstances.' Teresa, a news editor at Granada News, was found dead in her flat in Little Hulton, Salford. She had reported broken fingers, and even potentially a broken rib, to GMP before her death. The journalist was 'mistakenly' told by an officer that she was not entitled to receive information about Chalmers' alleged history of domestic abuse because they were no longer in a relationship, the inquest heard. The force then attempted to contact her to inform her she might be entitled to the details under Clare's Law but it received no reply. Chalmers denied either physically hurting Teresa or trying to control her, during video evidence given after his arrest for failing to attend her London inquest. He admitted, however, that their relationship had been volatile. A GMP spokesman said: 'Our thoughts remain with Mrs. McMahon after the tragic death of her niece and while officers worked tirelessly to provide her with answers, we recognise we weren't able to provide the closure she was seeking despite the thousands of hours spent reviewing complaints and opening new investigations. 'We always carefully consider the circumstances of individuals when seeking to recover costs lawfully ordered by the court. As a public body, the force must balance these considerations against its obligations to protect scarce public funds.'
Independent Singapore
27-06-2025
- Business
- Independent Singapore
Nanyang Old Coffee in dispute with Chinatown Business Association over S$77K in alleged back rent
SINGAPORE: The decades-old Nanyang Old Coffee is being sued by the Chinatown Business Association for more than S$77,000 due to unpaid rental fees for its outside dining area along Smith Street. According to a report from Lianhe Zaobao earlier this week, Nanyang Old Coffee had occupied a sheltered walkway on the street by placing tables and chairs for its customers. The 'cafetaurant' is allegedly supposed to have paid a rental fee of S$8,636.02 per month beginning from Oct 1, 2024, for a total of S$77,724.18, according to a legal letter sent by the Chinatown Business Association, which is a nonprofit entity made up by representatives from businesses and the community and which won a tender to manage the 13 shophouses in Smith Street last year. Nanyang Old Coffee, which has been located at the intersection of South Bridge Road and Smith Street for 15 years, is not among the shophouses managed by the Singapore Business Association. However, the outdoor area in dispute is, based on the tender documents of the Singapore Land Authority at the time, Lianhe Zaobao reported. The association is also seeking S$5,000 in legal fees. Proceeds from the lawsuit would be donated to help the community, it said. It attempted to reach out to Nanyang Old Coffee last October but stated that the establishment did not give its efforts any attention. 'Despite multiple attempts to resolve the matter amicably, including a formal letter requesting the removal of furniture and potted plants from the outdoor dining area, the unauthorised use of the space has continued, even so, as of Jun 22. 'As such, the Chinatown Business Association has had to take the necessary steps to address this issue,' it said. The Chinatown Business Association also claimed it offered on multiple occasions to sublet the area to Lim Eng Lam, the founder and manager of Nanyang Old Coffee. The other establishments using the outdoor areas are required to pay a rental fee. Mr Lim has since spoken to CNA, saying that he does not agree with the demand from the Chinatown Business Association regarding the rental issue and is hoping for clarification from the authorities on the matter. CNA added that on Thursday (Jun 26), the two parties met concerning the matter at the State Courts. /TISG Read also: Smith Street revamp: Chinatown businesses strive to preserve culture amidst concerns of gentrification
