Resisting arrest?
Discussion
In another thread gone posted that if a police officer had his hands on you and you fought to get away, you would be done for resisting arrest.
Does this mean that if you are actually running away and the police officer has yet to get his hands on you, and they caught up with you later say, at home, can they still cite "resisting arrest"?
Just curious.
Does this mean that if you are actually running away and the police officer has yet to get his hands on you, and they caught up with you later say, at home, can they still cite "resisting arrest"?
Just curious.
The actual offence is Assaultwith intent to resist arrest.
Once the Officer has hands on you as he/she must to effect an arrest, if you struggle to get away the offence is complete. Once told you are nicked you must come quietly or face this charge.
This could be linked in with the offence of Assault Police as well which has a lesser penalty.
If the arrest is later found to be unlawful, then there will be no assault with intent to resist!
Once the Officer has hands on you as he/she must to effect an arrest, if you struggle to get away the offence is complete. Once told you are nicked you must come quietly or face this charge.
This could be linked in with the offence of Assault Police as well which has a lesser penalty.
If the arrest is later found to be unlawful, then there will be no assault with intent to resist!
gone said:
The actual offence is Assaultwith intent to resist arrest.
Once the Officer has hands on you as he/she must to effect an arrest, if you struggle to get away the offence is complete. Once told you are nicked you must come quietly or face this charge.
If it took 3 Police Officers to manhandle a suspect to the floor to eneble them to handcuff said suspect would that person be charged with resisting arrest?
or anything else?
No It wasn't me
It could be any number of offences. Most serious of which would be escaping from lawful custody. This is only made out if you have been arressted'and then run away to the extent that the officer loses sight of you. Its an indictable only offence which means you would be off to the crown court and looking at custody.
It is a long standing precedent that even if you KNOW that you are innocent, e.g. you haven't just thrown a brick through a car window, BUT you are e.g. unlucky enough to be in the right place and fit the description,and you get arrested, this does NOT give you any right to resist arrest or attempt to assault the Police Officer.
In terms of seriousness a charge of Assault Police, under S89 Police Act, is equivalent to Common Assault in terms of charging standards. If a Police Officer suffers a more serious injury then the appropriate offence will be charged, e.g. ABH, GBH etc...
That said, in terms of sentencing Assault Police can often carry a higher sentence. I used to know of a wonderful old lay magistrate who would trot out the same sentence every time without fail. "People who assault Police Officers can expect to go to prison." Usually 14 days was the resultant sentence.
In terms of seriousness a charge of Assault Police, under S89 Police Act, is equivalent to Common Assault in terms of charging standards. If a Police Officer suffers a more serious injury then the appropriate offence will be charged, e.g. ABH, GBH etc...
That said, in terms of sentencing Assault Police can often carry a higher sentence. I used to know of a wonderful old lay magistrate who would trot out the same sentence every time without fail. "People who assault Police Officers can expect to go to prison." Usually 14 days was the resultant sentence.
hedders said:
If the arrest is later found to be unlawful, then there will be no assault with intent to resist!
Surely if the cop used physical force to make an unlawful arrest then he /she should be up on charges too?
Yes, that is the case with an unlawful arrest.
But not a lawful one, where reasonable force can be used. Reasonable cannot be defined, and varies from circumstance to circumstance.
"Did you punch, and knock my client out officer?"
"Yes, because he was about to grind a broken bottle into my face and I have a pub full of witnesses"
Deemed to be reasonable force in the situation outlined with no criticism to said officer whatsoever.
However, would be a different case if said "bottler" was not being physically aggressive.
hedders said:
If the arrest is later found to be unlawful, then there will be no assault with intent to resist!
Surely if the cop used physical force to make an unlawful arrest then he /she should be up on charges too?
Thats what happens if the defendant can prove the arrest is unlawful.
Anything that happens after that is unlawful including detention. This currently stands at around £800 per hour compensation (OUTLAWisBack will probably be able to tell you exactly how much!)
Marcos maniac said:
The actual offence is Assaultwith intent to resist arrest.
Once the Officer has hands on you as he/she must to effect an arrest, if you struggle to get away the offence is complete. Once told you are nicked you must come quietly or face this charge.
If it took 3 Police Officers to manhandle a suspect to the floor to eneble them to handcuff said suspect would that person be charged with resisting arrest?
or anything else?
No It wasn't me
It very much depends on the circumstances at the time. If one or more of the officers was injured in any way or assaulted in the process of the arrest by him, it is possible he may be charged with this offence of 'Assault on Police'
Lots of people struggle when arrested, some violently, which is why training in 'unarmed defence tactics' and 'officer response options' are something which is an important and criticle part of Police training and is fully updated and logged in the officers personal record. If an offender is hurt in the process of his arrest, it does not follow that the officer is immune from prosecution him/herself if the proportion of force used outweighs the objective (Human rights) or injury is caused which is not justifiable in comparison to the resitance used by the offender.
gone said:
It very much depends on the circumstances at the time. If one or more of the officers was injured in any way or assaulted in the process of the arrest by him, it is possible he may be charged with this offence of 'Assault on Police'
the Police executed a section 18 warrant - as a result of their findings
the householder was subsequently arrested and resisted ironically what the Police found was not the original intention of the warrant 
Not sure on the full facts of whether the person was violent - violent! due to data protection and arresting officer on rest days
But I would be most interested to find out what they have been charged with are there any ways and means? I do have legitimate reasons for needing to know Marcos maniac said:
the Police executed a section 18 warrant - as a result of their findings
I take it you are talking about Section 18 PACE search (inspectors authority after arrest). If that is the case, they were there lawfully and if they find other items in relation to offences which are arrestable under Section 19 PACE, they can seize them and arrest for those too.
Marcosmaniac said:
Not sure on the full facts of whether the person was violent - violent! due to data protection and arresting officer on rest days
You will not know or be able to find out lawfully unless you ask the person who is charged and he tells you the truth or he is convicted in court and it is in the local paper!
gone said:
You will not know or be able to find out lawfully unless you ask the person who is charged and he tells you the truth or he is convicted in court and it is in the local paper!
The person is not likely to tell me as it would be very beneficial to me and could be used to my full advantage
I just hope that they have been charged with what was found and resisting arrest into the bargain :crossesfingers:
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