Cahn v Pockett's Bristol Channel Steam Packet Co [1899] 1 QB 643
Citation:Cahn v Pockett's Bristol Channel Steam Packet Co [1899] 1 QB 643
Link to case on WorldLII (reference).
Rule of thumb:If a person has goods on a hire-purchase agreement, but sells them to an innocent 3rd party, can the owner of the goods get them back off the 3rd party? No, this is a legitimate loop-hole in the law - the innocent third party is entitled to keep the goods despite the fact that the seller never had good title to sell them.
Judgment:
“However fraudulent a person in actual custody may have been, in obtaining the possession, provided it does not amount to larceny by trick and however grossly he may abuse confidence reposed in him, or violate the mandate under which he got possession, he can, by his disposition, give a good title to the purchaser.” Collins L.J.
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.