In "'detinue sur bailment, "'the defendant is in a bailment relationship with the claimant and either refuses to return the chattel or else has negligently or intentionally lost or destroyed it.
42.
The gist of an action in detinue is that the defendant is wrongfully in possession of personal property which belongs to the plaintiff whereas replevin lies only where there has been a wrongful taking or seizure of the property.
43.
The plaintiff could claim, " I lost the goods and you found them . "; or " I bailed the chattel to you . " The first of these was called " detinue sur trover ".
44.
For an action in detinue to succeed, a claimant must first prove that he had better right to possession of the chattel than the defendant and second that the defendant refused to return the chattel once demanded by the claimant.
45.
During the fifteenth century, this plea gave rise to a special form of the action of detinue known as " detinue sur trover " which should be distinguished from the action of " trespass on the case sur trover ".
46.
During the fifteenth century, this plea gave rise to a special form of the action of detinue known as " detinue sur trover " which should be distinguished from the action of " trespass on the case sur trover ".
47.
The preoccupation of detinue with the two special cases of stray cattle and lost title-deeds persisted, and the general problem of recovering chattels which had neither been stolen or bailed was only solved with a new form of writ.
48.
Sir William Holdsworth described trover as an extension of detinue, which enabled not only a bailor and a dispossessed owner, but also a third person, to whose use goods had been bailed, to get full recognition of their interests.
49.
If A wished to sue B for trespass, debt and detinue, the court would have to issue an individual writ for each action, with associated time delays and costs for A, and then ensure that B appeared in court.
50.
During the fifteenth century the plea of " detinue sur trover " gave rise to a special form of action of detinue, which came to be distinguished from the action of trespass on the case and its companion, trespass on the case sur trover.
