I fought the law: meet the super-litigants
Some people who represent themselves in court spend months, even years, battling for justice. So why do they go on?
Maurice Kirk, vet
“I’ve been a litigant in person for more than 20 years,” says 71-year- old Maurice Kirk. “My cases have taken over my life. They’ve cost me my family, my health and my qualifications as a veterinary surgeon. Twenty years – I never thought it would last this long.”
Kirk, a qualified pilot who recently flew across Africa in a vintage air rally, says he’s currently fighting “about 15” court cases. Twelve are part of his 24-year dispute with South Wales police. He admits he has become obsessive about taking the police to court. “But I won’t give up because I know I’m right,” he says. The legal battles stem from “a campaign of harassment and bullying” which he says started in 1992, when he moved to Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan to open a veterinary practice.
“I was constantly stopped for motoring offences,” he says. He admits there were also high-speed car chases and a fine for resisting a police officer. Stung by what he saw as continued injustice, following previous run-ins with the police in Guernsey, Kirk started to go to court to get his convictions overturned.
“I was forced to be a litigant in person because the lawyers I employed proved thoroughly disappointing,” he says.
Kirk blamed South Wales police when he was removed from the register of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) in 2002 for unprofessional behaviour. The RCVS cited his 11 convictions among the reasons for striking him off. Kirk applied to go back on the RCVS register several times, always representing himself at hearings. They turned him down.
He changed tactics. “I thought if I could prove the police had treated me badly, I might be able to go back on the register as a vet,” he says. He decided to sue South Wales police for damages, but preparations were interrupted when he was charged with the illegal possession and sale of a Lewis machine gun.
Kirk, who already had convictions for assault, spent eight months on remand until a Cardiff Crown Court trial in 2010. He defended himself. The jury found him not guilty.
The damages case came to court in 2013. “I’d been preparing for this since the 90s,” says Kirk. “There were a lot of witnesses to find and interview. I hired a private investigator to trace some of them.”
Kirk represented himself in 47 days of hearings. He was allowed damages for two of 33 incidents, but the judge ruled there was no conspiracy. Kirk is preparing an appeal. South Wales police said: “It would be inappropriate to comment” as proceedings were continuing.”
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2...uper-litigants