The following is a TV Licensing Blog guest post:
I would like to thank the TV Licensing Blog for giving me a platform to inform people of the continual harassment I suffer at the hands of the BBC since taking perfectly legal steps to avoid paying their extortionate and unfair TV licence fee.
In 2006 I discovered that a growing number of people were ditching, or more commonly disabling, their TV receivers in an effort to stop receiving "live" TV broadcasts. As the law stood at the time, anyone who did this did not legally require a TV licence and would not have to subsidise the sordid operation of the BBC.
I wrote to the BBC informing them that my "system" was now "disabled" and that I was no longer under any legal obligation to purchase a TV licence. I can safely say, they were not happy with this news at all.
Almost immediately the nation’s beloved national broadcaster set into motion a regime of harassment and intimidation that still continues to this day. Regular readers of the TV Licensing Blog will be aware of the history of this regime against me.
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| Michael Shakespeare: An innocent man who TV Licensing tried to criminalise. |
After many years of monthly threatograms and regular doorstep harassment, I found myself in court facing criminal charges. This was the result of a visit by BBC TV Licensing "Enforcement Officer", Mr Ian Doyle. At the time Doyle was a senior Area Manager in the mythical "London and Essex Enforcement Division". You can read about Doyle's more recent exploits here.
This was an unscheduled visit, with Doyle arriving totally unexpected on my doorstep. He requested access to my property with the intention of examining any equipment that might be able to receive a "live" TV broadcast. I had no legal obligation to allow him entry, but did so in the mistaken belief that BBC TV Licensing would finally accept that my address was not receiving "live" TV broadcasts.
After a thorough examination of my equipment, including my personal computer, Doyle could not find evidence of the reception ANY "live" TV broadcasts of ANY kind. Even so, BBC TV Licensing managed to cobble together enough dubious evidence to have me charged with TV licence evasion.
Not wishing to go over old ground, but case against me was eventually thrown out by a Crown Court Appeal. The Judge ruled that video evidence presented by Capita Business Services, prosecuting on behalf of BBC TV Licensing, was wholly unreliable and inconsistent with the testimony of its own lead witness, Ian Doyle.
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| Capita TV Licensing's Ian Doyle, of recent Daily Mail stardom. |
After winning this case I was expecting an end to BBC TV Licensing's campaign of harassment against me. Sadly, despite having been cleared of any wrongdoing, the threats and intimidation have continued virtually unabated.
On 9th October 2017 at approximately 7.45pm my dog alerted me to the fact that two BBC TV Licensing goons, again employed by Capita, had encroached on my property. I don’t usually open the door to them, but on this occasion, in exasperation, I decided to film the doorstepping duo. In events extremely similar to Doyle's earlier inspection visit I preceded to video the encounter.
I was extremely tempted to allow the two Goons, who had identified themselves only as Kyle, and Graham, entry into my property in order to establish that my equipment STILL could not receive "live" TV broadcasts. I decided against allowing them entry when goon Kyle appeared to lie about his lack of knowledge about Doyle's earlier visit.
Kyle was extremely reluctant to tell me, when questioned, that he was acting on behalf of the BBC, which employs Capita to perform these TV Licensing visits.
I must admit to being extremely worried that by refusing these two goons entry I will find myself back in court on the basis of lies and highly questionable evidence.
One thing is sure, the BBC will not stop this harassment and intimidation until I purchase one of its TV licences, even though I'm under no legal obligation to do so. The BBC refuses to accept the status of any property that is legally-licence-free.
TV Licensing Blog comment: We are grateful to Michael Shakespeare for providing this article. Please see our earlier article for full details of how TV Licensing tried to criminalise an innocent man who refused to submit to its coercive tactics.
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I believe that under section 49 of RIPA goons have no legal access even with a search warrent to laptops, tablets, phones or computers. Can anyone confirm this
ReplyDeleteJust a quick - but important - comment: you do not need to disable your television set. Doing so, unfortunately as you have found, in no way prevents harassment and/or continued attempts to get the owner into court. And why should you potentially make your television set less saleable or useful to any subsequent owner?
ReplyDeleteIt is not up to anyone to prove their innocence/non-use of a television set to receive live broadcasts or watch BBC iPlayer offerings. It is up to the BBC/Capita to prove that they are doing so.
It is a basic tenet of English law (and of course a reality) that it is impossible to prove a negative - which is why it is always up to a prosecutor to prove guilt.
Do carry on fighting - but refuse to engage with these people at all. That way they are unlikely to be able to get you as far as court (and they certainly won't have any evidence to produce in the unlikely event that they do try it on).
The BBC should run adverts or close down and stop harassing innocent people. The gentleman does not need a TV licence and should not be bullied and abused by Mafia thugs into buying an overpriced licence to fund paedophiles so they can maintain their debauch lifestyle of drug binges and addiction to champagne and pay excessively high salaries to unworthy employees. A different set of rules apply to the BBC who get away with harassing people because they are mentally twisted perverts with no empathy and no moral conscience. The BBC is controlled by individuals who are Sadistic Narcissists that think they are entitled to steal money from people who genuinely should not be wasting their hard earned money on supporting parasites who continually lie to the public. This is typical of covert aggressives, they are takers with no boundaries.
ReplyDeleteStay strong and do not give in. You do not need a licence. We need a TV Licensing Abuse Rehab group to support those who have suffered and are still suffering horrendous emotional damage from predators employed by the BBC.
Sick by name, sick by nature. These people, no, animals need removed from their abusive behaviour by new laws. Ant of them found to be luring, abusive or disrespectful should be sacked. Keep your camera rolling.
ReplyDeleteI haven't paid the BBC a penny for more than twenty years. The goons stopped calling ages ago - once the message "NO COMMISSION HERE" penetrates their thick skulls, they lose interest.
ReplyDeleteHi all reading some of these comments of BBC harassment there must be recourse in law against the BBC.
ReplyDeleteI would like to make a point and I hope some of you may agree with this point.
There is a very simple solution which the BBC is using at this time on certain parts of there services. It's called electronic pin coding.
(1) Advantages stops people from using BBC services with out paying.
(2) Cheap to implement.
(3) Stops people from being Harassed if they refused to us BBC services.
(4) Gives choice to people who want to use and watch BBC and other TV services.
I believe the BBC has no interest in stopping the harassment of innocent people.
Derek