Any thoughts on this difficult problem?

[billybutcher]

@Peter_Bird

I once faced prosecution for taping a conversation , an admission of guilt from the guilty party who had embezzled me. The evidence was unacceptable in court but my message taping was deemed unlawful.

UK or France?

[Peter_Bird]

France.

[JaneJones]

@billybutcher

UK or France?

Either…covert recordings are widely considered illegal in democratic countries…

@Corona

Personally screw the rules, catch the perpetrator and confront, saying you saw them. They will either back down or stop especially when you tell them youll tell the mairie and everyine you meet including those that suffered damage then let nature take its course

So you want to live in a country where vigilante justice is considered acceptable…Bolivia, Afghanistan, Philippines ?

[KarenLot]

In UK I believe only 1 participating party has to be aware a conversation is being taped to make it legal.

[KarenLot]

…And dropping tacks isn’t vigilante justice?

I’m with Corona.

Heard recently from someone locally born & bred they used similar way of catching someone in the act and got it dealt with by officialdom who were aware, but not acting. Was settled much more civilly once the person became aware.

[Corona]

@JaneJones

So you want to live in a country where vigilante justice is considered acceptable…Bolivia, Afghanistan, Philippines ?

Maybe just a tad extreme? We are talking someone putting down tacks, once they know they have been spotted they have the option to stop.

[cat]

Aha, but that is your advice isn’t it Stella ? Doesn’t necessarily make it correct or even good!
Sorry if that sounded snippy but there are huge regional variations in this kind of thing and I would hate any readers to assume that the site is providing definitive answers to this type of issue. At the end of the day we are all just expressing our opinions

[billybutcher]

@KarenLot

In UK I believe only 1 participating party has to be aware a conversation is being taped to make it legal.

That is my understanding also.

@JaneJones

Either…covert recordings are widely considered illegal in democratic countries…

Jurisdictions vary in whether one, or both parties need to be aware of the recording for it to be legal - which is why I asked

@Peter_Bird

France.

As above, you’d have been OK in the UK, as long as the recording was for your own use, but France needs both parties to consent.

Except in the case of an employer keeping tabs on employees which seems to be legal.

[FireinFrance]

I read an interesting story once about the SeaBees in WW2. The Japanese were dropping spikes (caltrops) onto the US airstrips so the US planes could not take off. An ingenious SeaBee rigged up a large magnet to the front of a jeep, collected all the spikes and the some Marine pilots returned them to the Japanese airfield in the same manner. The spikes never came back again.
Perhaps, once you figure out who it is, you just discreetly returned the items to the original owner…?

[JaneJones]

@KarenLot

In UK I believe only 1 participating party has to be aware a conversation is being taped to make it legal.

It’s not as straightforward as that. Depends on the context and specific circumstances and purpose of the recording.

[lebeuil1]

Update 5 weeks after first post.
Locals raised a petition and got homeowners here in the hamlet and also a few near-locals to sign and indicate punctures. Total? 52. And that doesn’t include LaPoste vehicles and occasional ‘white vans’, which undoubtedly would have had a few.

Petition given to our mayor and the mayor of a neighbouring (1km) village for them to present to the police.

[toryroo]

Wow that is a serious number of punctures! Thanks for the update, I look forward to hearing the next instalment!

[hairbear]

Maybe the perpetrators are a local garage ? Hell of a way to drum up business