Police Interviews
Being interviewed as a suspect in a criminal offence is a very stressful experience, having the right team on your side can make a big difference to the police interview and the outcome.
Our lawyers have a formidable track record of handling police interviews successfully, making our clients feel at ease and confident. It is a huge myth that instructing a lawyer for your police interview makes you look guilty, it does not and the police and courts do not have this view. In fact it is a very sensible approach when you are in a situation where you are at your most vulnerable, and where your liberty may be at risk. Having a lawyer present also ensures that your legal rights and entitlements are protected, and the complexities of the criminal law are appropriately dealt with.
The police interview is a very important stage in a criminal case, how you respond to the interview will impact how the case against you proceeds. You have various options in interview, our experienced lawyers will clearly explain those to you prior to your attendance at the police station and their advice will be tailored specifically to the circumstances of your case.
In what the police told me was a "relatively unique" situation, the services of a duty solicitor had been provided to me who essentially recommended that I plead guilty, even after spending quite a while explaining to him why I felt I had a strong defence.
There can be so stronger indication of the quality of service provided by Jessica who immediately took over the case and dismissed the advice, and provided a proactive and effective defence that resulted in my case never even coming anywhere near a courtroom. - Verified Review.
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At The Police Station
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Police Caution
A suspect can be interviewed under arrest or voluntarily, although each of the interviews will be under caution.
It is in your interests and the interests of the police for the caution to be given prior to any questions being asked of you. The caution is important, it reminds you of your right to remain silent in interview, but also warns you that if you do not mention something that may assist your defence it could affect any future court proceedings.
We have seen many clients come to us having been charged with an offence who were given the wrong legal advice prior to a police interview, clients who have a defence in law who have been advised to
remain silent, this greatly affects their defence at court because the jury will simply be asked, “why didn’t the defendant raise this during his police interview?” and
adverse inferences may be drawn from this.
We can therefore not stress the importance of having a specialist lawyer on your side during your police interview to advise you on the best way to approach the questions asked of you by the police, and to enable your case to begin on the right footing.
“You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence, if you fail to mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say will be given in evidence”
Voluntary Interview
Suspects are often contacted by police either in person or by telephone and asked to attend a voluntary interview at their convenience, to assist police with their enquiries.
It is very important that anyone approached by the police and asked to attend the police station to answer questions under caution understand that the same rights are afforded to them as they are to a person under arrest, and that a specialist solicitor being present is strongly advised.
An interview under caution will apply to suspects under arrest and those who have attended the police station voluntarily. Therefore, do not believe that attending the police station as a volunteer means the police are not taking the allegations made seriously - they are!
What we can do after your interview
An interview does not just assist the police, the interview can also assist you. Through questioning the police provide us with more detail of the allegations against you, putting you in the position to then be able to walk away from the police station and gather supporting evidence to assist your defence prior to the case being submitted for cps review. We can provide this supporting evidence at the early stages by way of
pre-charge representations, to reduce your risk of being charged with a criminal offence.
At Eventum Legal we strongly understand the importance of your police interview, all
correspondence put to the police in preparation for your interview, and the continuation of our role
afterwards.
Below are the steps we endeavour to take when instructed to attend the police station to represent our clients:
Introduce ourselves to the investigating officer, let them know we act for you and request for all correspondence to come through us. This takes the anxiety and pressure of you, you can be assured that you are not going to be getting phone calls, or knocks on the door if the police decide they want to speak with you.
Obtain initial disclosure prior to the interview. This will provide us with a general idea as to what the allegation is about, if we are not satisfied with the amount of information we can request further details from the officer. The police are not obliged to provide any disclosure, however we work effectively to build rapport with the investigating officer to ensure the needs of our client’s are met.
Discuss the disclosure with you, advise you on the law and take your instructions, establish potential defence evidence, whether this be witnesses, mobile phone evidence or third party material.
Prior to your interview one of our specialist criminal defence lawyers will conference with you via phone/Skype or face to face to discuss your case at this stage. A strategy will then be put in place so that you attend your interview prepared and with confidence.
We attend the interview with you and robustly advance your defence and protect your interests. You will not e taken advantage of at the police station when we are by your side, we are not afraid to challenge the investigation.
At the conclusion of the interview we will ensure that any bail conditions the police seek to impose on you are just an reasonable. Any decisions being made to remand you we will be involved with and will make the necessary representations with a view to avoiding this.
What happens after your interview?
Our lawyers can continue to work with you prior to any charging decision being made. We will support you and guide you through the police investigation process whilst being extremely pro active in advancing your case with the ultimate goal being to be to prevent you from being charged with an offence.
If you have been asked by the police to attend an interview under caution
contact our lawyers
now to discuss your options and our representation.
Location
82 King Street
Manchester
M2 4WQ
info@eventumlegal.co.uk
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Eventum Legal hold mandatory indemnity insurance. We are insured by Hera Indemnity - Lloyds.
We are regulated by CILEx Regulation to conduct criminal litigation and advocacy, authorisation number 3002253.
