returning mobile phone from police after conviction

[DBSV8]

We have a chap at work who has Asperger's and struggles socially appears "odd in his behaviour "but is harmless


He was convicted two years ago of a stalking offence, sending letters to a lady then turning up at her house looking at the evidence it seems he was badly represented at the time , he had his laptop , mobile phone , printer etc seized by the police . he has completed his sentence 21 months
suspended for 2 years

and has asked for his property back . He received his laptop / printer but no mention of his mobile phone

what steps should he take

are there any legal bods who could offer advice
thanks

[anonymous-user]

I'm sure he can apply to the courts to have it returned?

[Koyaanisqatsi]

'Harmless' to you, perhaps, evidently not to others.

But anyway, any device found with illegal material on (evidence of his 'stalking' the lady, for example) will be destroyed, not returned. He will know the details of what was and was not on the devices, but he should contact the investigating officer at the time (whose name and number can be found on his paperwork) and ask for a request to be sent through to seized property where it can then be available for return and collection by him, if eligible. If it cannot be returned then the investigating officer will just tell him this.

[OutInTheShed]

He should buy a new phone.

The old one is obsolete and now has a duff battery.

[DBSV8]

OutInTheShed said:

He should buy a new phone.

The old one is obsolete and now has a duff battery.

yep Hes been told by colleagues , go and buy a new one its his SIM with his old contact details he wants back,

[Pica-Pica]

OutInTheShed said:

He should buy a new phone.

The old one is obsolete and now has a duff battery.

2 years old is by no stretch obsolete.

[P675]

It may be in a long queue to get the data analysed for noncing and they just haven't got to it yet, so he can't have it back.

[sospan]

Are there any conditions on him about behaviour/tech access post release?

[98elise]

Pica-Pica said:

OutInTheShed said:

He should buy a new phone.

The old one is obsolete and now has a duff battery.

2 years old is by no stretch obsolete.

You're assuming it was brand new when it was taken. People with Aspergers don't like change so are unlikley to want a slightly different phone every couple of years.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

P675 said:

It may be in a long queue to get the data analysed for noncing and they just haven't got to it yet, so he can't have it back.

You are correct in saying there is a 'queue', but high priority cases do get fast-tracked when it comes to data analysis.

We are told he has already been convicted and received a suspended sentence. The police aren't going to get that out the way whilst still having a device in the 'queue' in the analysis lab (which they seized in the same raid). What if some horrendous stuff was found on the device they haven't got round to analysing yet? They'll do it all at once.

If it's the case that the police can't 'crack' a particular device and access it when hooked up to their computers, it's possible to apply to have it back but only after having been completely wiped and reset (which they don't need to gain access to a device to do), and various paperwork completed by all parties to confirm this.

[Ussrcossack]

DBSV8 said:

OutInTheShed said:

He should buy a new phone.

The old one is obsolete and now has a duff battery.

yep Hes been told by colleagues , go and buy a new one its his SIM with his old contact details he wants back,

I bet he wants the contacts off the old phone including the person he stalked perhaps

[MesoForm]

Ussrcossack said:

DBSV8 said:

OutInTheShed said:

He should buy a new phone.

The old one is obsolete and now has a duff battery.

yep Hes been told by colleagues , go and buy a new one its his SIM with his old contact details he wants back,

I bet he wants the contacts off the old phone including the person he stalked perhaps

Must be ancient to have anything on the SIM, surely?

[poo at Paul's]

Perhaps he could stake out the police station, work out who works in the evidence room, follow them home, hang about outside for a few months, then ask them for it (with or without his nob out, his choice) ?


Seriously, why doesn’t he just ask them for it?

[anonymous-user]

Accessing data on his phone has to fit within the ACPO guidelines which insist a digital investigation strategy will be adhered to when acquiring any digital data. In essence investigators can not complete a "fishing trip" with regards to accessing all data on the device and the level of intrusion must be necessary and proportionate to achieve the goals set out in the investigation strategy.

As the gentleman has been charged, sentenced and the sentence has now been served it's clear that further data acquisition on the device is neither necessary or proportionate so it's highly unlikely that any work is being done on the phone. Is it possible the police are investigating another offence you're not aware of? Ultimately the same person who gave him his laptop and printer back is the person who can authorise the return or continued seizure of his phone. I appreciate that he may not have felt comfortable communicating with the officer returning the other items but that's the person he or whoever is assisting him needs to speak with.

[DBSV8]

Ussrcossack said:

DBSV8 said:

OutInTheShed said:

He should buy a new phone.

The old one is obsolete and now has a duff battery.

yep Hes been told by colleagues , go and buy a new one its his SIM with his old contact details he wants back,

I bet he wants the contacts off the old phone including the person he stalked perhaps

I think spending 7 months on remand in Pentonville , just about destroyed him , this is the type of person , who is a vegan to the extreme , is very much into the "spiritual well being" lifestyle
Does not socialise at all , an extremely private person another colleague got him out of London into a flat he had a curfew imposed with electronic tag , 300 hrs community service but due to COVID he actually only did 10 hrs , has a restriction on an area of north London he can no longer travel indefinitely .

I think its fair to say hes a very much broken human being , who found a lady in his mind who shared the same holistic lifestyle and values ..( all this based on information from media and on line }.. crazily he met the ladies mother who is a faith healer and booked several sessions and asked if he could write to the daughter .
He wrote 4 letters all a bit rambling, then through research on the internet managed to locate her address , god knows how he did this ?
so he knocked on her door .........she never answered but called the police.

Any rational person would go .............no way akin to Kate Moss being interested in mr Bean

Edited by DBSV8 on Friday 11th November 18:51

[DBSV8]

sebdangerfield said:

Accessing data on his phone has to fit within the ACPO guidelines which insist a digital investigation strategy will be adhered to when acquiring any digital data. In essence investigators can not complete a "fishing trip" with regards to accessing all data on the device and the level of intrusion must be necessary and proportionate to achieve the goals set out in the investigation strategy.

As the gentleman has been charged, sentenced and the sentence has now been served it's clear that further data acquisition on the device is neither necessary or proportionate so it's highly unlikely that any work is being done on the phone. Is it possible the police are investigating another offence you're not aware of? Ultimately the same person who gave him his laptop and printer back is the person who can authorise the return or continued seizure of his phone. I appreciate that he may not have felt comfortable communicating with the officer returning the other items but that's the person he or whoever is assisting him needs to speak with.

thanks

that was my take on it as Hes already been charged and served his time.

Good point on other investigations ,for other offences , The firm does have a barrister so it may be worth a letter to the officer in charge to determine if there is any reason why the phone can now be returned.

edit
the other point hes extremely upset about the police accessed his computer and took a private photo of him which was distributed to the media , not sure about how this is viewed in law , i would have thought they could easily have issued his mug shot taken at the police station ?

Edited by DBSV8 on Friday 11th November 19:13

[anonymous-user]

DBSV8 said:

thanks

that was my take on it as Hes already been charged and served his time.

Good point on other investigations ,for other offences , The firm does have a barrister so it may be worth a letter to the officer in charge to determine if there is any reason why the phone can now be returned.

edit
the other point hes extremely upset about the police accessed his computer and took a private photo of him which was distributed to the media , not sure about how this is viewed in law , i would have thought they could easily have issued his mug shot taken at the police station ?

Edited by DBSV8 on Friday 11th November 19:13

No problem, I hope it gets sorted. I don’t think it needs a barrister to liaise with the officer nor would it add any weight to the request in my experience. I’d just approach the officer via the same line as previously done to get the laptop and go from there. If that doesn’t work then you can raise it through their supervision which would be much more likely to get a result than a barrister.

In my experience, the data acquired from a digital download is treated in much the same way as any other evidence, more so if the force is ISO accredited or working towards it. I really can’t see them ever releasing a private image of a suspect that was acquired via digital forensics. I have known the media to do their own open source research based on court listings where their defendant gives their name, date of birth and address and then use an image from social media.