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Re: Damaged roots and successful prosecution

Subject: Re: Damaged roots and successful prosecution
From: Simon Pryce Arboriculture
Date: May 11 2007 08:44:45 
To answer Bill's first question I was the tree owner's arb consultant.
Another point that I should have put in was that the owner's solicitors
made several offers to settle the case, including replacement planting,
but the LPA were determined to prosecute him. Like I said earlier, if
there is a half way decent offer on the table, its much better to accept
it. Judges don't look sympathetically on parties who don't try to
resolve cases if there is an opportunity to do so before they get to
court. Unfortunately the dread word "principle" tends to rear its
head. A fine thing but it does tend to fill lawyers' pockets.
The owner's solicitors have asked the barrister to put together a short
account of the case and as and when that happens I'll be glad to
circulate it. It obviously revolved largely on the legal issues. 

Re Edmund's points
The tree would have had some fairly limited bio diversity value, it was
probably a woodland remnant but by this time was pretty well isolated
from any others in a suburban setting. The decay at the base was caused
by Grifola, so the bracket had hadn't appeared until shortly before I
looked at the tree. When he started on that course of action the owner
hadn't the faintest idea it was decayed.
As a general comment on court cases, it is hard to predict how they'll
go and very often the quality and strength of the evidence one way or
another has relatively little to do with it. One of the main factors
seems to be how the advocates do their job. Getting an expensive and
presitigious barrister helps, they are smart but they make mistakes like
the rest of us - a common one is pursuing a line of questioning one
point too far, at which point the case collapses in a heap. Some seem
to think they're too clever to have to work hard, one other worked way
too hard and annoyed the judge. Speaking of which one judge who used to
do subsidence cases was notorious for keeping the appeal court busy with
his capricious decisions but has now been promoted sideways. 

Better get on with some work before I get myself in trouble.

Simon






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