A couple renting a Crown property home have said they are facing eviction over an electricity bill estimated at £32.
Christopher Brown, 33, and Daisy Bow Du Toit, 31, received a notice in October saying they had to leave their flat in Royal Mews, Hampton Court.
The couple said they had been told it was because they had used a local power socket to charge their electric car.
The Royal Household said tenancies were terminated "very rarely".
Mr Brown bought a Volkswagen e-Golf in 2019 and had been charging it at his workplace because the Royal Household refused to install a charge point at the property.
He said he tried to appeal against the refusal but was told the decision was final, despite the household initially seeming "receptive" when he first asked about it in 2018.
When the coronavirus lockdown forced him to spend more time at home, he said he resorted to using a plug socket in a communal boiler room when it was "absolutely necessary".
My guess is that it is not about the money, but because of an unauthorised appliance on the communal (unmetered?) power supply and a suspected breach of the electrical regulations.
They might be right to do so if it was a dodgy lash up that was a fire risk, but not if it was sensibly done.
Seems a bit harsh in any case.
It an be a criminal offence.
Section 13 of the Theft Act 1968 - unlawful abstraction of electricity.
It an be a criminal offence.
Section 13 of the Theft Act 1968 - unlawful abstraction of electricity.
Only if it is dishonest. If they had sense, they could have put a meter on it to show an intent to pay... and perhaps they did, since they claim to know how much the bill should be.
It is difficult to see how it might be done honestly.
It is difficult to see how it might be done honestly.
How can you consider it dishonest if there was an intention to pay?
David is discussing the possibility, as should you be given that the article as quoted by you contains no indication of the presence or absence of an intention to pay.
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