A Load Of Old Bails

As if the policing world wasn't mad enough with the cut backs, pensions and pay disputes, along comes the Justice System who are supposed to be working with us, not against us and sticks one on the police service just after it's been left reeling with blows from the government.

The short sighted, self interpreted and may I say, bigoted definition of The Bail Act and PACE by a Salford District Judge who took a perfectly good system and then threw it in the bin was then backed up by the High Court.

Today's ruling left yet another bitter pill to swallow when the Supreme Court dismissed an attempt by Police to suspend a legal ruling limiting Police Bail in England and Wales to a maximum of four days only.

MP's are voting on an emergency legislation this Thursday to attempt to put things right.

What this idiot of a DJ has done has taken the law and because he can, use his interpretation and change a piece of legislation.

What this has done to the police has caused utter chaos.

A colleague of mine who works on big fraud cases has said to me that they will find most of their cases collapsing due to constantly having to re-arrest someone.

For example.  What used to happen was, the person was arrested for fraud, then taken to the police station, interviewed.  Mean while their documents, computers, etc would be seized to be investigated into.  Then this person would be "freed" on police bail but their items kept for investigation.  This person would then return at a later date after more evidence has been gathered where they will either be charged or released without charge.

Now what happens is after the person has been interviewed they must be bailed to within 24hrs of their time of release.  This DJ has stated that the custody clock keeps running so you only have in the first instance 24 hours to deal and maybe with extensions up to 96 hours.

That's four days to look into a major fraud case

If after those four days nothing further is found then this person must be either charged or released with no further action.

Problem here,  is if someone has been effectively "NFA" as nothing has been found at this stage to charge, then technically all their property must be returned to them and with it, goes any possible evidence.  The police will have no right to hold onto it as they have been released without charge.

The second further evidence crops up, this person can be re-arrested.

However, how many times will someone need to be arrested to finally bring a charge?

How long will it take before some smart arse Barrister to suggest that their client was "stressed" "embarrassed" and "harassed" by the police and the officers dealing were in breach of process and or their clients Human Rights because they were arrested "too many times"?

How big will arrest rates soar yet charge rates for serious crimes fall drastically?

That's the big cases what about "simple" cases like a theft from a shop.  The person is brought in but is deemed unfit to interview as he is drunk.  The suspect when eventually sober has now asked for a solicitor who takes time to arrive due to heavy traffic and dealing with other clients.  The CCTV cannot be obtained then eventually when interviewed the suspect gives an alibi which cannot be chased up due to the person not answering their phone and your shift is drawing to a close and you need to hand over.

This person now needs to be bailed, but because of the new ruling, there may not be any time left on the clock as because, I stated above, the custody clock now continues to run.  So, if this person has been in custody overnight sleeping off the drink and has been in for 16 hours you can only bail them for 8 hours.

That's later that day and you still need to chase up that CCTV and the alibi statement.

What with every other job police officers have to do these days, how can they complete a thorough investigation within the given time slot?

A short time ago, Ken Clarke reversed his decision on halving prison sentences.

I think he got his wish in a roundabout way, as there will be no one charged to court any more to be sentenced to prison.

Call me a conspiracy theorist but it all seems too convenient to me.

Prove me wrong on Thursday, MP's when you vote against this stupid ruling and impose the emergency legislation.

Also I think the DJ needs to be shown how a night in custody works or out on patrol.

He may feel differently from our side of the fence.

.....Who am I kidding?!

All Rise! (again!)

Typical really, I should have known having had it happen to me already twice this week. I was warned for Crown Court again last night for the case which was supposed to have gone ahead on Monday but it didn't and no bugger told me! I later found out that even the defendant turned up expecting it to go ahead.

After faffing about trying to find which court the sentence hearing was in I was told by listings office that it wasn't going ahead again! I was literally on the verge of stepping out the front door when I saw the barrister who was prosecuting the case. He said "Where are you going we're just about to start?" I must have looked like a rabbit caught in headlights as he said "What's the matter?" "I was just this minute told that it wasn't going ahead and was leaving." It was then his turn to look like a rabbit caught in headlights as he said. "What do you mean not going ahead? The defendant is in the court room and we're ready to go!" "Well that was what I was told by listings two minutes ago."

Half an hour later I was leaving the court after hearing the sentence of the defendant which I was pleased with and because Crown Court is a duty commitment and official tour of duty, my day was done and I was heading home missing my first night shift this evening.

What I would like to know is how many hours are wasted through sitting around at court waiting to be called to give evidence? Even being the Officer in Case is bad enough as if you have to give some evidence you're not allowed in the court for the entire time of the case but must be prepared to run around for the barristers and Judge all day.

The number of times I have prepared a file, put several hours into making it, obtaining statements, medical reports only to find that the defendant suddenly changes their plea or the case is adjourned further still wasting more time.

I cannot think of the number of times I have arrived at Magistrates or Crown Court only to find that I am not needed or the date has been changed. Usually we find this out as we are about to go in to the court and most of the day has gone.

I don't mind rest day workings but when I've been sat in a court all day waiting to be called only to find that I'm not needed until the next day when I would have been working, or even not at all annoys me. It's a waste of time and money and I'm pretty sure I could have been doing something more important with it.

My advice to you if you ever have to go to Crown Court to give evidence is take a book and make sure it's a big book!