future technologies: Ministers to overturn bail ruling

Friday, July 1, 2011

Ministers to overturn bail ruling

Home Secretary Theresa May: "This is a matter of great concern"

Senior police officers will meet the home secretary later to discuss how to respond to a court ruling restricting the use of bail in England and Wales.

Theresa May is considering emergency legislation following a High Court ruling that suspects can be freed on police bail for no more than four days.

Police had commonly released suspects on bail for weeks, or even months in some cases, while an inquiry continued.

Mrs May has expressed "great concern" over the ruling's effect on policing.

The Association of Chief Police Officers' (Acpo) lead spokesman on the issue, Essex Chief Constable Jim Barker-McCardle, said there was "chaos and concern out there" after the ruling had "thrown the whole of policing into the air".

However Ian Kelcey, of the Law Society, said the courts may be sending out a message to the police.

He told BBC News: "Defence solicitors have been extremely concerned over the period of the past few years that bail has extended and extended, and I think this may be a message that's coming out from the courts that enough is enough and you can't just treat it as an ever-extending piece of elastic."

Analysis

For over 25 years, since the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, it's been customary for officers to release suspects on police bail while they complete their investigations. Sometimes this can take weeks or months.

When the suspect returns to the police station, he or she might be detained for further questioning, re-bailed pending additional inquiries, charged or released without action.

The ruling in the Hookway case has thrown this long-established practice into disarray. On the face of it, it means police have four days at most to bring charges - regardless of whether suspects are in custody or not.

The reality is that in thousands of cases this won't be possible. Police, under the new interpretation of the laws, will be powerless to prevent suspects walking away from a police station, with no conditions attached, unless they can find new evidence to arrest them again.

No wonder the Home Office and senior officers are urgently seeking a remedy.

The change reverses more than 25 years of police practice.

Fresh guidance to police custody officers in England and Wales followed a ruling in the case of murder suspect Paul Hookway - involving Greater Manchester Police - by Mr Justice McCombe in the High Court in May.

It says officers will have to re-arrest suspects in order to detain or question them again beyond the four-day - or 96-hour - period - but may only do so with "new evidence".

Guidance from Scotland Yard says that police will also no longer have the power to detain a suspect who breaches their bail conditions or fails to surrender.

BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said one senior police figure had described the implications as "dire" as it would have far-reaching effects on serious and complex cases where police needed time to gather evidence and speak to witnesses, such as in rape allegations.

It is understood the home secretary was informed of the judgement and its possible implications on Friday after the Crown Prosecution Service and Acpo had sought expert legal advice, which stated that it set new case law and had to be adhered to.

Mrs May said the Home Office was considering whether to appeal against the ruling or introduce emergency legislation.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Because it seems this has immediate effect, it will disrupt vital ongoing investigations and hugely hamper the police in their job.

"Police officers I have spoken to are deeply alarmed at the implications for criminal cases they are working on right now."

The ruling was made by the district judge at Salford Magistrates' Court who said the detention clock continued to run while Mr Hookway was on bail.

Mr Hookway was arrested in November and police were given permission to detain him for 36 hours but he was released after 28.

Five months later, police applied to the courts to extend the period of detention from 36 hours to the maximum of 96 hours, but the district judge refused, saying that the 96 hours had expired months ago.

Greater Manchester Police sought a judicial review, but the ruling was upheld at the High Court.

The force is now seeking leave to appeal at the Supreme Court.

This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.