Fruit Machine Chat

You're in the pub. It's all going right. The wins are flowing faster than the wine. You scoop up and go to move on when the landlord and his son grab you and restrain you. The police arrive in one van and two cars. You are taken off to a police station. Your car is impounded, your phone and sat nav confiscated, your bank accounts are frozen for several months and you have no money to get home. Your house gets searched and your bank statements taken. The landlord is contacting the distributor and they're making up stories that machines can be manipulated by pressing sequences of buttons.
So we know what happens over the next few months. The police take ages to realise there's no evidence of fraud or theft, but what of the major inconvenience? What are your rights?

Let's make this a thread firstly about advice and secondly for sharing experiences.

Well obviously you can pursue civil action. Perhaps a claim for wrongful arrest? Maybe defamation if the incident happened close to your home address? I can't see it being worth the hassle pursuing anything through the courts, as the legal costs could be fairly significant and you'd be stuck with the bill should your claim be unsuccessful. However, it may be that before a hearing even took place you were offered a sum. I've never actually been arrested myself. Have you George?

Doubt it beard, its there pub so there choice! As a point though, if they said you "rigged' a skill machine and in a court you skilled it up then you should have a case! You must have been down the nicked route will? Hard boat to prove as we must all have been there! Remember a classic with with me and my cousin in the £25 days! :-)

Think you're misinformed here, the Pub has nothing to do with it. They do not decide to arrest you, the Police do. All the pub has the right to do is bar you from entry. However, if they went further than this and circulated your photograph or your registration plate, you have a legitimate case for defamation. There is a clear distinction between the Police (who are there as servants of the state to enforce the law) and the law itself. It is perfectly possible to launch civil claims against the Police themselves. I think the success rate is relatively low, but this is to be expected, or the authority of the Police would breakdown completely.

And it's their not there!

I think my friend went as far as having a legal document drawn up by his Solicitor which documented what he did for a living. It explained that at any point he may have large amounts of money on him do to the nature of his work; that all his undertakings were within the law; and that they should contact an expert in Fruit Machine hardware/software before making any accusations. He keeps this in his car should he get any trouble from the Police.

Noels Beard wrote:And it's their not there!

Sorry to be pedantic but shouldn't it be Noel's Beard instead of Noels Beard?

Oscar if you carry on with this naughty pedanticness in my threads, I will bar you from the board for nine minutes.

JG wrote:Oscar if you carry on with this naughty pedanticness in my threads, I will bar you from the board for nine minutes.

Shouldn't that be pedantry?

Ban should clearly be for nine hundred and ninety nine minutes too.

Fine Bid. Sixty Pence. No Bid. Scrap It.

In a fire pub the other day we were collecting out a bank and it was helpfully paying out notes.

It was one of those red noteys than makes a right racket when inserting / ejecting notes.

The landlady goes and asks 'Do you need me to change that note for coins?' not realizing we were in the process of collecting out several notes rather than struggling to get one in

Record it paying out notes, and play it back in reverse mode.

Actually very dangerous, to have a document drawn up saying that you play fruit machines for a living. This looks dangerously like this is your business. Notwithstanding that winnings are exempt from tax, if you are trading then the profits of the trading would be subject to tax.

Much precedent here - e.g. most dividends are exempt from tax, but if you are a bank or insurance company and buy and sell investments as part of your trading activities then you are taxed on them.

Now the question comes down to whether you are trading - and we need to look at the badges of trade. A large number of frequent transactions generating a profit over all would certainly provide positive evidence that you were trading.

You would then be taxed on 20%/40%/45% of your trading profits (less the personal allowance). You would of course be entitled to a deduction for all expenses incurred wholly and exclusively in the course of the trade.

Just saying.....as it wouldn't be nice if HMRC turned round and demanded the last 20 years back taxes....

So say your name is Lino and you have a bad 6 months where you only make 100k, you put it in the bank, whats the worst case scenario? Surely that much cash being banked from someone who does'nt work will cause suspicion. Even 100k banked over say 5 years for instance would raise a few eyebrows!