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THIS MAY HAVE HELPED THE LIKES OF SHORTBOY BANG UR CELL DOOR


Goddaz

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Theresa May is considering emergency legislation after senior police officers warned of the impact of a high court 'detention clock' ruling.

The home secretary, Theresa May, is considering whether emergency legislation to stem growing concern among senior police officers over their ability to hold suspects is needed in the wake of a court ruling.

The ruling – made by a district judge at Salford magistrates court and backed by the high court on 19 May – could spell the end of the practice of releasing suspects on police bail and calling them back for further questioning, a common practice in most major police investigations.

On Wednesday, the West Yorkshire chief constable, Sir Norman Bettison, warned that the high court ruling on the "detention clock" was close to "a disaster" for custody sergeants, who face the prospect of having to release thousands of serious criminals without charge.

"We are running around like headless chickens wondering what this means to the nature of justice," Bettison said. "It's a mess."

At a policing conference, May told Bettison she was also greatly concerned about the decision and was working with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Crown Prosecution Service on its ramifications for police forces across England and Wales.

"There may be an opportunity to appeal this decision," she said. "We are also looking at whether or not it's necessary to introduce legislation in order to deal with this issue. We are conscious of the concerns this judgment has brought in terms of operational policing."

The ruling concerned the case of Paul Hookaway, a murder suspect who was released by the Salford district judge when police applied for an extension under section 44 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act after the original 24 hours they are allowed to hold someone for questioning. Extensions up to a total of 96 hours are allowed.

The district judge broke new ground in ruling, for the first time in the history of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, that the detention clock continues to run while the suspect is out on police bail.

Hookaway was first arrested at 12.40pm on 7 November last year. A superintendent granted permission for him to be detained for up to 36 hours for questioning, but he was released on bail after about 28 hours.

Five months later, on 5 April, police applied to the courts to extend the period of detention from 36 hours to the maximum 96.

But the district judge refused the application, saying the 96 hours had expired months before.

Greater Manchester police applied to the high court for a judicial review of the case, but Mr Justice McCombe upheld the district judge's decision on 19 May and refused leave to appeal.

The force is now seeking leave to appeal to the supreme court.

Bettison said that unless the ruling was overturned, police could no longer put anyone out on bail for more than 96 hours without either being in a position to charge or release.

"It's on the verge of a disaster now, because the question being asked by my custody sergeants is: 'What do we do, boss?'" he said. "I cannot countenance turning people away from the charge office and telling them all bets are off and they are free to go."

Professor Michael Zander, of the London School of Economics, recently said the decision was unfortunate and, if it was not quickly overturned on appeal, would need to be speedily reversed by legislation.

In a Criminal Justice article, he said that when the original Police and Criminal Evidence Act was passed, the then home secretary, Douglas Hurd, intended to protect suspects from being held for more than 96 hours without impeding police investigations.

He said it was not designed to enable a game of "cat and mouse" tactics to be played by the police.

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:lol: @ the way this judge has single handedly got parts of the UK's justice system in chaos & simultaneously got the Con Dem running round trying to draft an emergency legislation to fix this loop hole should it be upheld a second time.

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KMT!!!!!

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Currently if your arrested police can detain you for 24 hours, if they want to hold you for longer it can be extended by a superintendent to 36 hours then right up to a maximum of 96 hours (4 days) but subject to a judge.

Currently the clock stops as soon as your released on police bail while the police carry out their investigation/gathering evidence against you etc & would start again when your brought back in for further questioning/interview in the future.

NOW

This judge from Salford comes along and says no, the clock doesn't stop, it continues while your on bail & being investigated on. In short if the police can't gather enough evidence against you to charge you that's it. They have to let you go.

That's what has happened to this Paul Hockaway guy, he was a murder suspect & was arrest 5 months ago, police applied for the maximum 96 hours but the judge refused stating the 96 hours expired long ago.

If it gets upheld by the supreme court, the government will have to rush in an emergency legislation to stop the current situation, past & future cases.

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KMT!!!!!

/

Currently if your arrested police can detain you for 24 hours, if they want to hold you for longer it can be extended by a superintendent to 36 hours then right up to a maximum of 96 hours (4 days) but subject to a judge.

Currently the clock stops as soon as your released on police bail while the police carry out their investigation/gathering evidence against you etc & would start again when your brought back in for further questioning/interview in the future.

NOW

This judge from Salford comes along and says no, the clock doesn't stop, it continues while your on bail & being investigated on. In short if the police can't gather enough evidence against you to charge you that's it. They have to let you go.

That's what has happened to this Paul Hockaway guy, he was a murder suspect & was arrest 5 months ago, police applied for the maximum 96 hours but the judge refused stating the 96 hours expired long ago.

If it gets upheld by the supreme court, the government will have to rush in an emergency legislation to stop the current situation, past & future cases.

Can someone summarise this plz?

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Police could hold a suspect for a maximum of 96 hours without them being charged of any crime e.g. a suspect could be arrested and bailed four times within a month and after each arrest get held at the police station for 24 hours

This Judge from Salford has made a ruling which states the custody clock should remain running while a suspect is on bail meaning that if there is not sufficient evidence to charge a suspect within 96 hours of initial arrest then the police cannot continue to have a suspect on bail.

Now all the media in a frenzy about the ruling are saying this could stop thousands of murderers, rapists and violent criminals from being prosecuted but in reality all it means is if there is not sufficient evidence to charge (prosecute) then the police will not be allowed to have suspects on bail indefinitely and will have to continue investigating until they gather enough evidence to charge.

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