The cases stated here may no longer be relevant but they may provide the reader with a different perspective on their situation, on the facts
Nemo Dat – can title to stolen property be acquired? Seemingly not as Nemo dat quod non habet – ‘no one can give what they do not have’; someone who steals gains possession of the taken item, not title. In turn, they can pass possession, not title. The title rests with the original owner, the person from whom the property as taken.
Costello vs Derbyshire Police 2021 – (summary) if property, which is believed to be stolen, cannot be identified who can be approached as a victim, who has a better claim to title than the person (suspect) found in possession of it?
Derbyshire legal department was none too happy about this and a chap working for the police, Mr Lord, set about trying to promote Lord’s Law. In brief, he felt a vehicle purchased should be required to undertake further due diligence pre-purchase of a vehicle and if sought, evidence this had occurred. A single meeting on the subject appears to have been sufficient to dismiss the idea.
Not long before this, a further matter was cited in relation to a vehicle title dispute, that of:
Webb vs. THE CHIEF CONSTABLE OF MERSEYSIDE 1999. the arguments again were related to …’in the absence of any evidence that anybody else is the true owner, once the police right of retention comes to an end, the person from whom they were compulsorily taken is entitled to possession‘.
Lewis & Averay (1971) – can title to property obtained by fraud be acquired?
Shogun Finance Ltd v Hudson – [2003] UKHL 62. English contract law case decided in the House of Lords, on the subject of mistaken identity as a basis for rescission of a contract. The case has been the subject of much criticism in failing to effectively clarify the area of mistake to identity (Wikipedia)
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