Biography

PART A Anne recently bought a terraced house, No 13 Jubilee Street (No 13), which adjoins No 11 on one side and No 15 on the other. Her solicitor who acted for her when she bought No 13 said there was a path across the back of No 15 and access to the street through a passageway between Nos 15 and 17. Anne is annoyed that Brian, the owner of No 17, has put a gate at the entrance to the passageway and keeps it locked. Brenda works at a local bank. A few days ago, she found an envelope in the entrance lobby and found that it contained twenty-five £20 notes. She put the envelope in her pocket. The bank manager, Charles, has told Brenda she has been seen on CCTV pocketing the envelope and insists she returns the money. Brenda refuses saying the law is ‘finders keepers’. Danielle has just bought Eric’s house. When she first viewed it, she was attracted by a statue in the garden, and liked the garden shed which rested on a concrete base. Having started to move in, Danielle finds that the statue and the shed have been taken by Eric, as have the fitted carpets. Frederick had spent the day using his metal detector on Giles’s farmland with Giles’s permission and found a small number of shiny coins which appeared to be of the 12th century. Frederick put the coins in his pocket and started to walk home but decided to take a short cut across some fields; he did not know who owned the fields but they in fact are owned by Henry. Frederick used his metal detector and found a collection of gold and jewelled items which look to be Anglo-Saxon. Excited by his find, he put the items in a bag he was carrying and took the items home. By reference to the relevant case and statute law, explain the rights and responsibilities (as the case may be) of all persons named in the situations described. PART B In December 2014, police officers at the Farmington Town police station discovered that a group called ‘the Wilshire100s’ were planning to rob the Bank of England. The police officers were worried: they had heard of the Wilshire100s and knew that members of the group were very clever and very dangerous. The police notified a team of specialist police officers: Claudette, Vic, Lem, Ronnie, Danielle, Shane and Dutch, collectively known as ‘the Strike Team’. On 2nd March 2015, the Strike Team was told by a confidential informant (Mitchell) that the robbery was to take place the following day. The Strike Team were very concerned and Lem said to the others: “I’ve written my will. You should write yours too!” Luckily, there was a solicitor at the police station. She agreed to meet with the team so they could write their wills. In his will, Vic left all of his property to the Police and Families Charitable Organisation (PFCO). In his will, Ronnie left £20,000 to Dutch and £100,000 to Claudette (Claudette was in charge of the Strike Team). Shane just laughed and said: “I don’t need to write a will – nothing’s going to happen to me!” The wills were witnessed by Tina and the solicitor. On 3rd March, the Strike Team hid inside the Bank of England, ready to arrest the Wilshire100s. As soon as the Wilshire 100s entered the Bank, the Strike Team threw smoke bombs. Unfortunately, the Wilshire100s had guns and they opened fire on the Strike Team. Bullets were flying and lots of the ceiling lights went out. Vic, Julian and Shane were killed outright. Ronnie was mortally wounded. As he lay dying, Ronnie grabbed hold of Dutch and said: “I’ve left you £20,000 in my will. You must give half of it to Tina. It’s to pay for her art classes”. Dutch nodded. Ronnie then grabbed Claudette and said: “In my will, I’ve left you £100,000. But it’s for Lem. It’s so he can afford to move to America and establish a business there.” Claudette just looked at him. Suddenly she ran forward and opened a heavy door that led to the Bank’s vault. She lifted it off its hinges and ran towards the Wilshire 100s, using the door as a shield. She managed to push the Wilshire 100s out of a side window and into an ornamental fountain, trapping them under the door. All members of the Wilshire100s were arrested. It later transpired that Vic, although married to Corrine, had been having an affair with Danielle. He had paid Danielle’s rent and food bills for the past six months. Shane had been living with his girlfriend Nina at the time of his death. Shane had divorced his wife, Mara, in 2011. Mara has not remarried. Advise Corrine, Danielle, Nina, Mara, Dutch and Claudette.
Paper details Word limit: 2,000 Both parts A and B should be answered and the word count is the total of both parts. You should ensure that the balance of word count between both parts is such that you answer both parts fully and adequately. Please use OSCOLA referencing. And please be reminded that to use italic wen quoting case name. Unless it is otherwise stated in the question paper, the specified word limit does not include the bibliography or footnotes, as long as the footnotes are used only to provide citations or references and not to add to the substance of the text.