Not happy Brendan Mitchell-MIA

[LewisM]

Someone knocking on your door and asking how you are and about a missing item is not trespass. Entering a premises unlawfully IS, or staying on a property after being asked to leave IS.

Per Australian High court ruling:

"The occupier of any dwelling-house gives implied licence to any member of the public coming on his lawful business to come through the gate, up the steps, and knock on the door of the house. This implied licence extends to the driveway of a dwelling-house. However, the licence may be withdrawn by giving notice of its withdrawal. A person who enters or remains on property after the withdrawal of the licence is a trespasser"

WA state law goes on to say that after asking someone to leave, and they fail to do so, REASONABLE and EQUAL force can be used to remove them.

But that is drifting off topic.

OK, so he fails to answer phones, emails, faxes, courier pigeons. No one seemingly has seen him. Easiest first action is for someone to visit him to see if all is OK, and politelly and truthfully explain to him the situation.

If that fails, or if he cannot be found, an enquiry to WA Police may be in order.

No one is talking about smashing down doors with baseball bats and bolt cutters. Geez, don't go jumping to conclusions about the word posse Just means sending a search party. It may be the West, but it's not the wild west (well, until you get to Bindi Bindi or Narrogin)

[taminga16 (Greg)]

"If he is there, your "posse" should demand IMMEDIATE surrender of said mount to them, whilst they supervise".

Sorry LewisM, It's just not how it read for me.
Greg.

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Got to agree with you, Lewis. If someone lives reasonably close to him and could pay a visit to see if he is ok, that would be sensible. After all, the guy is well known to many people on this forum, and I gather his recent actions are quite out of character.

[multiweb (Marc)]

UNI kids are back soon so he should resurface for the next term if he's still enrolled. That should clear things out hopefuly.

[LewisM]

If Graham has ANY paperwork about it being sent to him, and correspondence regarding it being for repair/overhaul, then Brendan withholding it - ASSUMING HE HAS BEEN PAID FOR ANY WORK RENDERED - is a criminal act. If Brendan has done nothing to the mount, and no payment has been made, grounds exist to still reclaim the mount, giving Graham's written approval on a statutory declaration (the stat dec will be needed to reclaim the mount in all circumstances by a third party).

Lots of ifs, and we have only heard Graham's side to the story, but seriously, SOMETHING needs to be done ASAP. 8 months with no correspondence is wrong (personal circumstance permitting).

Graham, get a legal stat dec made now regarding reclamation of your property. I would have ALL paperwork/emails/faxes/letters/dockets/cheque stubs etc READY.

Is it worth it for a $1900 mount? Yes it is. Put yourself in Graham's shoes.

[issdaol (Phil)]

Hi last post on his website mentions a trip to Karijini National Park which is the top end of West Australia.

If he has not been heard from since this and went alone I would be very concerned for his well being and call authorities to investigate as soon as possible!!

[LewisM]

Grasping straws, and the name is probably a coincidence, but Brendan Mitchell comes up in WA roads to do with the Kwinana freeway - the page updated this year. Might be worth contacting WA Roads to see maybe?

http://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/BUILD...s/Kwinana.aspx

[gregbradley]

Brendan posted here quite a lot. Gee I am bit surprised by the anger and hate. Cool it off guys. He came across as a very cool guy. I know the lack of communication makes it easy to dream up all sorts of bad actions by him but judging by his posts and actions I very much doubt he is a bad person and capable of running a scam. And no offence, but I can't see someone boarding a plane to Rio because they got someone else's EQ6??!!

So until you have proof he has done bad lets lay off the call the cops, harrass him type posts eh?

Its innocent until proven guilty right?

What's the bet he's been on an overseas trip and he forgot to handle a few things properly before he went?? Or he's been working in some remote mine onsite for some much needed funds - he's a student right?

So if it turns out to be an innocent lack of organisation or illness or accident then perhaps there can be just as many posts apologising for the hot headness.

Greg.

[LewisM]

I apologise in advance if it all turns out innocent. BUT, and a BIG but, Graham has to look aftr his own interests too.

Put yourself in Graham's situation Greg. Granted, he should not have let it progress this far (or possibly nothing could have been done anyway), but what is done is done - for good or bad.

No one is denigrating or slandering Brendan's character - it's more suggestion of what Graham needs to TRY to get done before things only progress further. Information seeking is the key here.

[RobF (Rob)]

I've had a couple of good dealings with Brendan in the past, however I know as a student he gets caught up in studies and hols a lot. Its no excuse for not responding for 8 months suspect its likely he's been devoting his energies to hols and other projects (new girl? )
Total speculation on my part.

FWIW I've sent a text to what was his mobile number in case helps.

[gregbradley]

Information seeking is the key here.[/QUOTE]

I agree. He has been a long standing member here with many helpful posts so it would seem a huge and very unlikely change for him to do a criminal act. My experience is criminal types flag their behaviour well in advance and you only get stung if you missed their clear attempts to flag themselves.

I hope he is OK.

Greg.

[leinad (Dan)]

OICURMT appears to know where he works very nearby; there's a first close assistance call?

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...0&postcount=12

[Visionoz (Bill)]

OICURMT had lunch with him - see last post here: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...d.php?t=100201 - and he is probably alive and well and uni finals and work were stated to have exhausted the poor bugger!! Yet having heard from OICURMT the last time a message from graham.hobart it is indeed the lack of even making an attempt to return the call (especially after having taken possession of someone else's property) certainly raises a lot of doubt (justifiably so) about BM's integrity

I too, like many others here, had gone to astro-camps and imaging sessions with him and despite our "supposed" friendship with him has been ignored too!

So hopefully graham.hobart would seek the right avenue open to him to get his gear back again

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[GrahamL]

I'm really sorry to hear of your situation graham,aside illness and you hope thats not the case , holidays study or a new girlfriend are no excuses for such poor behaviour over such a long timeframe.

I wouldn't feel uncomfortable in your position calling in the police
to look into things when they have time, at the very least they might shed some light on his health and your property.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

One possibility is depression or some other mental illness. It can make people do out-of-character things, including cutting off communication. If he has been that ill for 8 months the situation is quite serious. Never the less he may present OK at times (eg if someone knocks on the door) but not be able to maintain that mood. So to the cops, or whoever, he may seem OK and have no excuse for his actions (or inactions) but once he is alone he could fall back into the hole. I know that when I've been unwell it is easy to put off something that is (or appears to be) a hassle and then getting it done gets even harder, so it gets put off and gets even harder again. I don't know who he has around him but if he is isolated I would be concerned for his well-being.

[Jezza94 (Jeremy)]

Originally Posted by Stardrifter_WA

The item was sent to him voluntarily and just because it has yet to be returned is probably not considered theft. .

It wasn't sent voluntarily, if you read the original post, he sent it for a tune up. If you have a look at Brendan's website, he offers a mount tune-up service. The original poster should be able to contact consumer affairs (I think that is the division that handles this kind of stuff).

But on the other hand, lets hope Brendan is okay.

Jeremy

[Stardrifter_WA]

Originally Posted by Jezza94

It wasn't sent voluntarily, if you read the original post, he sent it for a tune up. If you have a look at Brendan's website, he offers a mount tune-up service. The original poster should be able to contact consumer affairs (I think that is the division that handles this kind of stuff).

But on the other hand, lets hope Brendan is okay.

Jeremy

My point was that he made the decision to send it, thus he sent in voluntarily. If BM was soliciting business and had no intention of returning it, then it would be fraud. Either way, it is a matter for Consumer Protection -Department of Commerce to investigate whether it is a criminal matter or just poor service.

I don't know BM but I too hope he is ok and that this matter gets resolved.

Cheers Peter

[Stardrifter_WA]

One thing is for sure, do any wrong in the astro community, which is a small community, and everyone is going to know about it.

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Here , here .
Brian.

Originally Posted by Stardrifter_WA

One thing is for sure, do any wrong in the astro community, which is a small community, and everyone is going to know about it.

[Cumbrian]

I'd be fairly upset if I was the original poster.

I had a similar problem when I applied for my Australian residency. I heard nothing from the department of Imimigration, in Adelaide, also for around eight months. I was ringing them every day, after four months, and the recorded message just said "we're busy try ringing some other time", before hanging up on me! It turned out they'd lost my application. And that's a Government department never mind a student!

Is it possible that he's gone abroad on a year long working holiday or similar?

Or maybe, as a student, he's on an eight month drink, drugs and sex bender - in which case his lack of communication would be thoroughly justified.

Seriously though, I hope you get your gear back soon, as you certainly have done nothing wrong.