# PLEASE ADVISE - BARCELONA PENAL ASKING ABOUT A TRIAL



## 710tree (Feb 8, 2021)

Hi guys,

I have an incident that is causing me enormous amounts of stress and anxiety.

Friday the 5th 2021, I just about fell of my computer check when I read this.



> Good morning Mr. Myname,
> 
> we tried to contact you by phone to inform you that we are organising the trial related to what happened in Barcelona airport on 16th of July 2017.
> We need to know if you are available to come to Spain for the trial or you can assist in videoconference from the place you live.
> ...



This is what I recieved, the incident they I think they are talking about is the spinning doors at the entrance of the airport. They accused me of breaking the glass window, it was a load of bollox and i got annoyed with the police officer, who seem to take an instant dislike to me and really went out his way to provoke a reaction at the time and fabricated a story and make a right old drama of it. I was then detained by the mossus d'squadra over night, then the next day taken to the local court with a solicitor and translator waiting for me and appeared before a judge. Where the matter was told of my translator was closed, as they checked there CCTV and could not see anything, so was told to get on my way and that was it, I thought it was all done and dusted with.


Anyways, I have not been back in barcelona or spain since 2019. So was super random to get an email like this firstly 4 years after the matter was told to me, to be closed and finished. Secondly, how come it's taken this long and now there's a trial ? wtf are these guys talking about.

Can anyone offer any advise or help on this matter please, as it's really starting to frustrate me that they are able to do this and how 4 years down the line, they are now "organising a trial" - absolutely nuts!

Thanks for your help guys.


----------



## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
That certainly sounds odd!
Firstly is it real or a scam/spammer email?
Statute of limitations in Spain is 5 years - so if an incident happened in 2017 - you are within that timescale.
Do you ever intend to go back to Spain?
If not - you might want to just ignore!
Did you get any paperwork from the court at your original appearance?
If so - might be worth looking at this to see what it says regarding whether the matter was considered closed.
Now that UK is out of EU - not sure whether you could be extradited for such an alleged offence!
Cheers
Steve


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

You are getting scammed or you are trolling us... I would think!
I don't think you would get a summons to court in an email.
The wording is no where near official enough.(Unless you have summarised it for us)
If from Barcelona it would be in Catalan or Spanish.
What's the email address of the sender?


----------



## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

I certainly wouldn't respond to it unless I was very sure that the sender was genuine. PW's suggestion to review the documents from the original hearing is the best one. If the case is closed it will say so.

But if there was a penal summons they wouldn't be asking you about your availability!

Even I did feel the need to repy, I would simply say that due to current health restrictions, my economic situation / availability, that I am not able to travel.


----------



## 710tree (Feb 8, 2021)

Hi guys, thank you so much for responding. I have to go back out now but i will be online later to respond in full.

However, I am finding the whole situation quite bizarre. Like bizarre scarey, like how at the time they told me it was all done and dusted with. Now they are grave digging a 4 year old case for trial ? wtf, how is this working, where is this coming from ?

The email i did search and it was from



> [email protected]


I am shocked beyond belief this is allowed to happen to be honest.

The documentation I got after the court things was chucked in the bin 2 years ago when i was moving, I had no idea i would ever need it again. Now 4 years later, that's looking like a stupid idea.

I love barcelona and spain and plan to go back. However, with all this, it's really freaking me out that they seem to now be trying to "organise a trial" and want me to go to spain, even with the current travel restrictions in the UK. Total crazyness.


----------



## 710tree (Feb 8, 2021)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> That certainly sounds odd!
> Firstly is it real or a scam/spammer email?
> Statute of limitations in Spain is 5 years - so if an incident happened in 2017 - you are within that timescale.
> ...


Hi Steve,

Thanks for replying mate. I have to shoot out in a couple mins but I will be online later. 

I would love to go back to spain, i had plans on a quick week visit but with all this crazyness, I want to know what is clearly going on.

I did get the paperwork, however, it was from 4 years ago and when i was moving a couple of years ago i just chucked a load of junk, well that now appears to be a stupid mistake, however, i thought it was done and dusted and the paperwork just felt like negative vibes and bad memories, so i chucked it.

I am just feeling so anxious and unecessary stress caused from this. I did a search for the email and i've dropped it in the response above, the google search brings back websites from legit websites, so it's a legit email.

Not sure what to do tbh now, as I don't have the money at the moment to be spending fortunes on call bills or even hiring solicitors to defend me. What would you do ?


----------



## 710tree (Feb 8, 2021)

Pesky Wesky said:


> You are getting scammed or you are trolling us... I would think!
> I don't think you would get a summons to court in an email.
> The wording is no where near official enough.(Unless you have summarised it for us)
> If from Barcelona it would be in Catalan or Spanish.
> What's the email address of the sender?


This is the email address:


> [email protected]


When I searched it on Google, it appears legit. How else and where would they get my name ? and details on the court information ?

This was there email



> Good morning Mr. Mylastname,
> 
> we tried to contact you by phone to inform you that we are organising the trial related to what happened in Barcelona airport on 16th of July 2017.
> We need to know if you are available to come to Spain for the trial or you can assist in videoconference from the place you live.
> ...


----------



## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Indeed it does look genuine:





__





C.G.P.J - Directorio de Órganos Judiciales


Selecciona tu provincia y municipio y encuentra el Juzgado que estás buscando.




www.poderjudicial.es





I would call them and ask directly if they have written to you, and if so, ask them to explain why, and that they put that in writing.

I would also be appointing a lawyer, maybe before doing anything we might recommend on here...


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Get a Spanish lawyer and get them to contact the judicial office.


----------



## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

I cant speak for whether this particular thing is genuine or not but in my work i have seen court things arrive by email several times. Usually when we are required to attend as witnesses. Equally by registered post.

My advise, for what it will cost, would be to get a lawyer in spain to check it out for you.


----------



## 710tree (Feb 8, 2021)

Overandout said:


> Indeed it does look genuine:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I spent the afternoon contacting several spanish solicitors in the hope I could get some free advise, whilst I did get some advise that made it a little bit clearer, as one said there's no trial number or something. What I can't understand and really, I find it so crazy, is at the time. They dropped the matter, as there was no CCTV. So it was let go and the translator, who was translating on behalf of my solicitor, said that the matter was totally closed. So not understanding how they are grave digging an old case which was closed.

Look at there email to me regarding them trying to "organise a trial", look how they have handled the case, look at the 4 years later doing this ****. This just shows you what a joke there system is, honestly what a complete and utter joke. Case closed but ohhh no 4 years later, we are going to try and "organise a trial" - then send a poorly written email, so bloody stupid, I can't understand the wasted time and tax payers with stuff like this over complete bollox.

At the time, I didn't even know why I was arrested, i was so stressed in the police cell waiting for a translator to tell me, I was sitting in the cell like wtf is going on. When the translator told me, I was absolutly amazed and annoyed.

I honestly believe at the time, the issue was fabricated from a mossos d'squadra officer, who took an instant dislike to me, as I had earlier been trying to report some italian girls luggage been stolen and the security and mossos d'squadra who were in the airport and had her running all over the place, she was walking around crying and upset trying to find the "official mossos d'squadra" desk in the airport and getting the run about, rather than just a report on the spot, which UK police would do. It was almost like he was pissed off for even asking him to do somethign but he insisted we must go to the office, all this time wasted, allowed extra time for the thief to get away with her luggage, which had her passport in it, money and everything, i felt really sorry for her and tried to help her. The mossos guy did not like it all but i couldn't understand giving the girl the run around, even though you know a crime has been committed. In the UK, the British police would instantly take a report.


I felt he took an instant dislike to me, then went out his way and found his opportunity. They at the time looked at CCTV and there was "nothing" - I was sitting there thinking, off course there's ****ing nothing it's been fabricated by that *******, over a petty ****ing dispute where his ego got hurt. 4 years later, I am still getting messages on this stuff. 

At the time I was upset and speaking to a catalan guy in the bar and he said to me, which I didn't understand at the time.

"Spain is Africa"

I didn't understand it at the time, now I fully understand what he means.


----------



## 710tree (Feb 8, 2021)

P.S - Does anybody know how I can obtain legal aid ? The solicitors I spoke to give a bit advise and they sounded confident in what to do and setup a defence. However, there prices where coming back at 1000 - 1500 euros + VAT. That's a lot of money to me right now

UPDATE: I've done some digging and found you can apply for legal aid in the link I post below, just incase it will help someone going through a similar thing in the future.



> Legal aid
> 
> 
> Legal aid helps pay for legal advice, mediation or representation in court - see if you can claim
> ...


I have sent off an email to them 5 minutes ago and see where and how I go about applying for legal aid. Hope the link may help someone in future.


----------



## 710tree (Feb 8, 2021)

Joppa said:


> Get a Spanish lawyer and get them to contact the judicial office.


Hola, thanks for posting. You are correct, I have been emailing lawyers today,very time consuming and with the pandemic, I have other things that I need to worry about. 4 years later, I now have something that was apparently already closed and done with. Crazy they are grave digging, wasting time with a case like this, complete waste of time, money, headache for nothing. You wouldn't think the way they talk that there is one of the biggest pandemics the world has ever seen with 62,295 people dying in Spain alone as of feb 9th 2021, with that figure looking set to continue rising but Ohhh no, can you please jump on a plane, come to an absolute shambles and joke of a case, which I was already under the assumption was dealt with 4 years ago, crazy stuff!


----------



## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
In a reply to my earlier post - you asked what I would do.
Honestly - I would totally ignore their email.
You stated that in their email - they are trying to “organise a trial”.
If you contact them - then that gives them the opportunity to easily arrange a trial.
By ignoring them - it would be much more difficult for them to arrange a trial and they might actually put this case down as “too difficult” to pursue and strike it off.
For me - I always look at the risk vs. reward in this type of situation.
Getting a lawyer is going to cost you a fair amount of money - even to do the necessary research as to what is going on.
I doubt you would get legal aid - especially as you dont have any official documents detailing the case against you.
If you had to attend court - that would be expensive with air fares and accommodation.
If you were subsequently found guilty of the alleged crime - then you would need to pay a fine and maybe court costs.

Ignoring their email costs you nothing - for now!
That is my risk vs. reward analyisis - for what it’s worth!
Cheers
Steve


----------



## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
i just deleted your last post - as it contained your email address.
Please don’t post anything with your email address or personal information on the forum - especially as you are discussing a potential legal case! - you never know who is reading the forum messages!
if you have already replied to them - then it’s going to be more difficult to ignore them going forward (but not impossible!)
Cheers
Steve


----------



## 710tree (Feb 8, 2021)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> i just deleted your last post - as it contained your email address.
> Please don’t post anything with your email address or personal information on the forum - especially as you are discussing a potential legal case! - you never know who is reading the forum messages!
> if you have already replied to them - then it’s going to be more difficult to ignore them going forward (but not impossible!)
> ...


Hi Steve, your right about the screenshot, probably best deleting those. Thanks for everything appreciate the advise. All the best mate.


----------



## Nomoss (Nov 25, 2016)

If you don't acknowledge their email they have no proof you ever received it.

So ignore the email, but keep it and hard copy it.

Also, get rid of that email address if you can, so they can't send you another message.

If they really need you as a witness they will have to send you a registered letter to prove you have received it.

As said above, this may be too much of a nuisance for them.


----------



## Joey Testa (Jan 5, 2021)

Certainly don´t respond to them in writing. I have heard various stories about people being physically assaulted by Mossos over trivial issues. Also tourists being verbally abused after asking for directions! Perhaps consult a UK based Spanish solicitor is a good idea. You certainly cannot be extradited for something like this but if you go back to Barcelona again (via the airport), it could be a problem. 
As for Mossos not helping a tourists whose bags were stolen, I would be surprised to hear if the Mossos actually did help!


----------



## ksjazzguitar (Dec 22, 2010)

I don't know, I have no specific knowledge here, but just reading the email, it sounds surprisingly indirect and non-specific for an email that is allegedly informing you that you are being put on trial. It also seems very odd that they would track down someone years later, in another country, over broken glass and would "randomly" resurrect that charge in the middle of a pandemic. They make no indication of what this is a trial of and what your status is - they just ask you to "assist" in a videoconference. Is it also possible that "trial" was a bad translation and this is just some kind of administrative hearing? That would fit better the tone of the email. (Unless they are trying to lure you in with a pleasant tone.)

If we've ruled out scam, then could it be a misunderstanding? Or maybe the officer has had too many complaints against him and this is _his_ trial and they just want you as a witness?

My instinct would be to email back and ask for more details. I would explain that to the best of my knowledge the only matter to which this could refer was resolved years ago. What is the _exact_ matter? What is the legal status of that matter? What is my legal status? Why do you need my assistance? I think it is completely reasonable to ask for more information than what was provided in that email before committing to participating in some legal event.

I would definitely not ignore it - the world is full of people that wish that they'd not ignored legal summonses. And a video conference seems like a completely reasonable accommodation. But if you are in fact the defendant in this, then I'd definitely want legal representation. Even if you are just there as a witness, I'd be careful about what I said, within reason.


----------

