The case of Richardson v The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police [2011] considered whether it is wrongful arrest when a voluntary interview has been offered.
Case Overview
The case involved a teacher (the claimant) who had been involved in an incident at school where a child had been kicking a door he was standing behind. He therefore put his arm out to stop the door from hitting him but the child walked through the door into his hand.
The police were involved and the claimant agreed to attend a voluntary interview at Bloxwich police station. He had been advised by a police officer that upon attending the police station he would be arrested, although he was attending for a voluntary interview.
When the claimant attended Bloxwich police station he was advised that he would need to attend at Walsall police station instead. The claimant therefore attended Walsall police station and was subsequently arrested. As a result of his arrest his finger prints were taken together with a sample of his DNA.
The claimant was advised shortly after his arrest that no further action would be taken.
Unlawful Arrest
The claimant subsequently brought proceedings in the High Court stating that the arrest was unlawful as it was not necessary and that the arrest may affect his future career as it may show on any future CRB check.
The claimant also applied for an injunction requiring the police to destroy his fingerprints and DNA samples and to remove details of the arrest from the Police National Computer, in order for it not to show on any future CRB checks.
Section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 states that:
Arrest without warrant: constables
- (1) A constable may arrest without a warrant:
- (a) anyone who is about to commit an offence;
- (b) anyone who is in the act of committing an offence;
- (c) anyone whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be about to commit an offence;
- (d) anyone whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be committing an offence.
- (2) If a constable has reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence has been committed, he may arrest without a warrant anyone whom he has reasonable grounds to suspect of being guilty of it.
- (3) If an offence has been committed, a constable may arrest without a warrant:
- (a) anyone who is guilty of the offence;
- (b) anyone whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be guilty of it.
- (a) anyone who is guilty of the offence;
- (4) But the power of summary arrest conferred by subsection (1), (2) or (3) is exercisable only if the constable has reasonable grounds for believing that for any of the reasons mentioned in subsection (5) it is necessary to arrest the person in question.
Necessary Arrest
Whilst Section 24(1) allowed the claimant to be arrested on the basis that there were reasonable grounds that he had committed an offence (which was not disputed within this case), Section 24(4) requires the arrest to be necessary. The claimant argued that as he had agreed to attend a voluntary interview an arrest was not necessary.
The defence argued that arrest was necessary in order to prevent the claimant from leaving the voluntary interview and therefore affecting the investigation. The defence also sought to rely upon PACE section 24(5)(e) which allows an arrest to allow the prompt and effective investigation of the offence or of the conduct of the person in question.
Fully Co-operative
The Court held that when considering if an arrest was necessary there was a duty to consider other possible options. In this matter the claimant had been fully co-operative and had attended two police stations knowing he was going to be arrested.
There was no reason to believe that he would not complete the interview and in any event, if he did, the police had the power to arrest him at that time. The Court therefore ordered that the arrest had been unlawful.
The Court however refused to order that the fingerprint and DNA samples be removed as this could be completed by request to the Chief Constable. The published guidance on this indicates that they may be destroyed if the original arrest was unlawful. The Court also declined to make an order regarding the information on the Police National Computer on the basis that the Chief Officer had discretion as to what would be included on an enhanced CRB.
If a person has been arrested upon attending the police station for a voluntary interview there would need to be careful consideration of the facts in order to consider whether or not this arrest was lawful. In this matter as the claimant had fully complied the arrest was considered as unnecessary and therefore unlawful.
How Nelsons Can Help
If you feel that you may have a claim for wrongful arrest, please contact a member of our Dispute Resolution team on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.