ACCUSED OF THEFT / BURGLARY

Help please!

I have made a settlement with my X under which she got children, house, contents etc & half my income.

This has left me very short, so I have begun trading, quite successfully, between car-boots, ebay, local auctions etc. She is now claiming that this, too, is income so she should get half.

She is now claiming that a table cloth that I sold on ebay for £5 was hers, and that I am therefore guilty of burglary and she has called in Police. I willingly admit that I sold the bloody thing, but only because it was in my possesion, as one of the few items she had not hitherto insisted was hers!

Police have told me that they will need to show her every transaction I have made on any account since our separation so she can assure them that there is nothing untoward involved. This means that they will be doing, on her behalf and for free, what a solicitor would be charging her £100 an hour for!

Is there any way I can insist that the Police get from her a list of items she has "misplaced" and then require them to focus only on the items she claims to have lost, rather than have them conduct a general fishing expedition through all my affairs on her behalf?

Any info / advice greatfully received,

qbbsw

I can't imagine that they'd be sucessful in forcing you to do what amounts to full financial disclosure for the sake of a £5 tablecloth!!! And getting her to write a list of what she's missing seems far more sensible.
I'm not a legal bod though so might not be such a simple case of common sense!
Hope you get a firm answer soon.

The first question I would ask the police officer is whether s/he is telling you you MUST do this, or wehether it is something which they are requesting that you do voluntarily.

Have you been interviewed or charged with anything?

I am not a criminal lawyer, but I would have thought that the first step they need to take is to establish whether a crime has been committed.
Theft requires that you dishonstlyappropriate property belonging to another with the intention to permanemtly deprive the other person of it.

If you had genuine and reasonable ground to think the tablcloth was yours (e.g. it was part of your joint belongings, she had already taken eveything she claimed was hers)then it is hard to see how the element of dishonesty could be made out - this isn't as though you had gone & taken it from her home.

It may also be worth checking that the police officer is aware that you and she are in the process of separating andd have reached a settlement - do they know that they are being used?

If the police are insitnt that you must provide them with this inforamtion then i would suggest speaking to a local, criminal solicitor for expert advice before you go any further

Just wanted to comment about how petty some people become

I'm no expert, but with posession doesn't she have to prove it was hers rather than prove it wasn't yours?

You say she has the children, house and contents - how did you end up with this item?

Has the financial order been written/decided or are you still negotiating?

Take care

WR