Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

BoS Demonstrators Protest Unlawful Arrest Of Bank Account Funds

Jaime84 | 10.06.2011 12:44 | Social Struggles

EDINBURGH, 9TH JUNE - PEOPLE gathered yesterday at the Bank of Scotland's Earl Grey Street branch, Tollcross, Edinburgh, to protest the unjust and unlawful arrestment of more than £700 in bank account funds from an account held by Edinburgh resident Jaime. The arrestment was carried out by Stirling Park Sherriff Officer's acting on behalf of Edinburgh 'cowboy' landlord and car dealer Mark Fortune.

Demonstrators Gather outside the Bank of Scotland, Earl Grey Street
Demonstrators Gather outside the Bank of Scotland, Earl Grey Street

Police arrive and question the protesters
Police arrive and question the protesters

One protester enjoys the scottish sun and the chirp-chirp of the summer police
One protester enjoys the scottish sun and the chirp-chirp of the summer police

BoS customers and passers-by exchange leaflets
BoS customers and passers-by exchange leaflets


The Bank quickly called the police but no arrests were made during the two hour-long protest. The protest was called by Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty because the account arrest on May 28th was illegal due to the fact that the as the funds frozen are almost entirely income-related benefits, which, under the Social Security Administration Act 1992 as well as recent caselaw, are “inalienable” and exempt from arrestment. Since the arrestment, the Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty has been fighting Jaime's case to have the arrestment lifted and have Jaime's benefits returned.

Since Friday 3rd, members of ECAP accompanied Jaime in three separate meetings with three separate bank managers, each time delivering letters clearly stating the illegality of the arrestment. Jaime and ECAP considered that the Bank of Scotland Area and Regional managers should be quickly concerned that the arrestment might be against the law but it seemed they had little or no concern, instead opting to let the branch's employee's repeatedly deal with the matter on the 'front line'. The bank only started to look into the matter after 12 supporters stayed in the branch for an hour after closing time on 6th June, to insist that justice be done.

Mark Fortune who instructed the arrest is facing a criminal court case for threatening a tenant and “has been banned from renting out properties in Edinburgh amid allegations that he verbally abused and threatened city council officials and tenants”

 http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/Millionaire-landlord-is-banned-from.6211971.jp

While the Bank of Scotland workers in the branch were mainly helpful in dealing with a complaint which is essentially not their fault, higher management – namely area manager Adrian O'Neil and Regional Manager Kenneth Lynch – had shown arrogant attitude, refusing to grant an appointment to Jaime or even speak to him on the phone. They have shown none of that 'personal understanding' that is so frequently advertised as the Bank of Scotland 'persona'. The real community players were protesting at the Earl Street branch today demonstrating mutual aid and building community links between people that institutions like the banks are constantly engaged in wearing down.

To show their determination to resist this injustice to Jaime, supporters from Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty entered the bank, displaying placards such as BANK OF SCOTLAND – DEBT COLLECTOR FOR CRIMINAL LANDLORD MARK FORTUNE. Drums played and whistles were blown as leaflets were given to customers explaining:

"We are demanding that the frozen funds be released immediately, or failing that that the Bank of Scotland make a payment to Jaime of the same amount, while the matter is resolved."

As the leaflets being distributed to largely supportive customers and passers-by said:
This case potentially affects lots of people on benefits who are being hounded by sheriff officers and who could be subject to bank arrestments. And it’s part of our resistance to the attacks the rich are making on us everyday. We all need to stick together – SOLIDARITY!

To help Jaime's battle for justice, to join the ECAP solidarity network, or just to find out more:
ECAP www.edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk  ecap@lists.riseup.net

Jaime84
- e-mail: jaime84@riseup.net
- Homepage: www.edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech