consular treatment in the balearics

THE BRITISH CONSULAR SERVICE
The treatment of a person who asked questions
and requested Consular Assistance in an emergency.

( Updated March 2008 )

A letter sent by fax from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to the editor of this publication on the 19th October 2006, accuses David Cox of " threatening and abusive behaviour " ,( a criminal offence under the Public Order Act of 1986, section 4), and cutting Mr Cox off from all normal access to Consular Services ie. telephone, fax and personal visits to Consular offices all over Spain. The only manner of communication now open to him is to write to the author of the fax, who evidently did not bother to contact Mr Cox to question or to verify the allegations made against him by " his colleaugues " so where is Mr Cox´s right of appeal against such a biased and unresearched allegfation accusation ?
Its contents of this letter, however, have been viewed by a significant number of civil servants and other officials including ministers and Members of Partliament in the United Kingdom plus Spanish tax officials and investigators with whom Mr Cox colaborates closely..
The letter can be read by clicking here.
This extraordinary accusation was made in the absence of any communication to Mr Cox at any time to clarify his so-called "behaviour" based on an assumption of it being directed at Mrs Deborah Hellyer, the Hon Vice Consul of Menorca at the time.( She has since been promoted to Hon Consul). Mr Cox was never accused by Mrs Hellyer at anytime in writing or otherwise and all accusations were made behind his back.
Mr Cox had not seen, spoken to, written to or otherwise communicated with Mrs Hellyer for nearly two years prior to this accusation and has not done so since in any way. All communication was between Mr Cox and Mr Paul Abery during a series of telephone calls and faxes during the time that Dr Stretton, the real victim in this case, was still in the location to where he had been taken by two employees of the Guardian on the morning of 26th September 2004 in an act of cruel decepcion, being told that he was " going to lunch ". I find it difficult to understand how these two men can live with their consciences especially as they claim to be devout Christians, attending the local Anglican Church regularly.
The request by Mr Cox for Consular protection for the elderly man, Dr John Edward Hallyburton Stretton, was made to the Hon Consul in Palma, Mr Abery, - not to Mrs Hellyer at all who was not available at the time
Mr Cox naturally asked for Dr Stretton´s return immediately to the care home where he was happy and recovering from his stroke. He had been brought there in a terrible state of fear and anxiety and had obviously been a victim of rough and callous treatment by earlier carers. He had been in this home for nearly a year and was treated as one of the nurse´s family. He could not speak audibly and was paralysed down his right side, but mentally alert.
There are, however, more factors connected to this case which, when properly studied shew vested interests in the removal of Dr Stretton in this manner from his care home by his Guardian.
Mrs Hellyer, it is interesting to note, never once visited Dr Stretton in all the time he spent in the care of his nurse although she holds the position of Vice President of Age Concern, Menorca, of which the frail and elderly stroke victim was a member.

In September 2004, Dr Stretton had signed an English Power of Attorney which had been witnessed by Mrs Hellyer in the Consular office. Mrs Hellyer explained the powerful document to Dr Stretton, who may well have been in a state of confusion because his daughters only days before this meeting had appropriated all his share certificates from his home along with cheque books and relevant documents regarding his extensive overseas investments which had never been declared for income tax in Spain. ( Valued in approx. 10 million Euros ).
The Power of Attorney furnished the two daughters with access to their father´s undeclared assets in the United Kingdom. Mrs Hellyer was not to know that tax had not been paid on them, but she was aware of the purpose of the document.
At the same time on the same day, the two daughters presented their father with a Will bequeathing all his assets in Spain and World-wide to them as sole beneficiaries. Also witnessed by Mrs Hellyer and her daughter in her office. This Will was then freely circulated by the daughters of Dr Stretton to " all and sundray ".
After his daughters had returned to the United Kingdom, Dr Stretton , infuriated by the appropriation of the certificates and still confused, visited Mrs Hellyer to ask for her assistance in recovering them. She declined, but failed to remind him of the Power of Attorney which he had signed in her office concerning the shares.
This failure to remind him would seem logical as a possible instruction from the daughters who did not wish their father to be reminded of the document since he would surely have revoked it as he had already done with a Spanish Power of Attoney when he found his daughters helping themselves to cash in his local bank account Mr Cox was also totally unaware of the English Power of Attorney.
Dr Stretton suffered a severe stroke in June of 2005 leaving him without speech and paralysed down one side of his body. He was pronounced " incapacitated " by a court of Protection in December 2005 and Mrs Withall, his eldest daughter, pronounced Guardian. As Guardian she was obliged to declare all assets as well as all contracts, powers of attorney etc. She failed to declare a considerable percentage of his assets overseas and never mentioned the English Power of Attorney either.
In June 2006, six months after Dr Stretton´s official incapacitation, Mr Cox through a long investigation and correspondence with Her Majestys Law Enforcement and Intelligence Services, discovered the existence of the English Power of Attorney and its use in companies in the United Kingdom to sell off Dr Stretton´s holdings and empty his bank accounts as if he were in perfect health.
The company, Computershare PLC in Bristol, alarmed by the scale of liquidation and shocked by receiving the news of Dr Stretton´s incapacitation, telephoned Mrs Hellyer in a recorded call in June 2006 to verify her signature and seal.
She did so but failed to inform the company of Dr Stretton´s state of health of which she had perfect knowledge - apart from her consular position she is vice-president of Age Concern of which Dr Stretton was a local member,
In learning that the document was not a forgery and was in full use, Mr Cox made a formal complaint to the Court of Protection against the Guardian for fraud, tax evasion and, citing the existence and the use of the Power of Attorney, still not declared to the Court of Protection. stated that It was being used to drain Dr Stretton´s undeclared assets and empty his bank accounts by Mrs Withall and her sister.

This particular company immediately froze Dr Stretton´s accounts and brought the matter to the attention of the appropriate authorities. The money was being drawn from Dr Stretton´s bank accounts and used in some way by his daughters - possibly sent out of the United Kingdom, a matter being investigated by the tax authorities.

The Fiscal, or State Prosecutor of Mahon, made a special effort to return early from her holiday in order to initiate an investigation into this potentially serious case. The police were alerted and Mr Cox was instructed to make a formal denuncia to the Judicial Police in Mahin. IHowever, this initiation of such serious enquiries could also put Dr Stretton in mortal danger.Proof of the plundering of his accounts would have meant the return of all assets sold and any cash to his estate and the appropriate penalties, which would have been considerable, then applied against those involved - also implying their exposure to the court and police.
Immediately that Mr Cox revealed the use of the power of attorney with documented details which were already in the hands of the Inland Revenue, it seems that this process to terminate his life began as forseen becauseDr Stretton was transferred to the new location in this brutal manner without prior warning and without judicial permission..
It was plain that if he died then many of the possible legal problems would disappear. It was only at this point when Mr Cox asked for Consular protection for Dr Stretton, fearing for his life, and it was then that he received this abnoxious and extraordinary fax from Mr Barry Nicholas at the Foreign Office on 19th October 2006.

Dr Stretton received a viusit from Mrs Hellyer eho did not know him and she stated that he was " well-cared for ". What are her qualifications in geriatric stroke victim care ? She had not bothered to visit him at all prior to his abduction. His nurse asked Mrs Hellyer for permission to visit Dr Stretton, but never received a reply.

Dr Stretton died within the first three hours of the first visit to him by the Guardian and her sister who arranged a hasty cremation for the next day - a festive day in Spain which was communicated to Dr Stretton´s nurse by Mr Vincent Meakins, the non-practising barrister acting for the Guardian and a man with business links with Mrs Hellyer in the field of property.
Neither the Court nor the Police were notified of the death and the autopsy was only ordered in the nick of time by a suspicious Guardia Civil. No result has yet been indicated after 16 months to date.

If Mrs Hellyer had queried the use of the document and reported it to the Court of Protection in June 2006, then the Guardian would have been substituted while an invstigation took plce and the fraud would have been discovered. Even if Mrs Hellyer had misunderstood the company in June 2006, it was quite clear in August of that year that the power of attorney was in use. Why did she not colaborate with the Court to protect Dr Stretton who died as a result of her silence.
The wild allegations made against Mr Cox cannot be proved and have no basis, lraving the Foreign office in an acutely embarrassing position after acting with undue haste and with no proof. Is this British Justice ?

It is worth pointing out to the Foreign Office that if they continue to try to cover-up the truth of this matter, they are helping to perpetrate the crime of tax evasion against not only the Spanish Government, but the Inland Revenue and as a consequence, resignations may be asked for if no action is taken to rectify this atrocious comedy of errors.