Called in for Questioning

[richarda0109]

The police just rang to request I come in to answer an allegation of assault made by my wife who recently left taking my 2 beautiful kids.

I am assuming this allegation refers to an incident before my kids were born - over 6 years ago.

My wife gave up work 1 year before my eldest was born. At that time she switched from a pub drinker to a home drinker.

The day in question was a summer weekend day and it was evening time - 5pm onwards. I have a large garden and I love gardening. I suffer from mild OCD and so having a large driveway with clay block paving I had a moss problem. My solution at that time was to use cheap Steak Knives and basically scrape. Its hard work and I started in the evening to avoid the daytime sun.

To cut a long story short my wife attacked me on the drive after she had started to drink and it happened so fast that the knife cut her lower left arm. We immediately went to A&E and it was dealt with using glue and a patch which eventually washed off.

I foolishly never reported this incident but I have had 2 drinking incidents where I have called the police. In fact the police have attached this allegation of assault on to my 3rd callout when my wife took my kids last week. I have the reference number of this 3rd callout and the one previous to that since they occurred this year. I have asked the police to provide me the first callout reference number as well but since it has been many years then I don't think they will bother. The main reason for this recent escalation and subsequent flight is that my wife has become paranoid due to the drinking and I was also forced to engage with my local GP and the Police - I have no one else (family or friends)

I have never been called in for questioning so please can you give me do's and dont's and any other wise advice.

Thanks
Richard

[Transiter]

richarda0109 said:

The police just rang to request I come in to answer an allegation of assault made by my wife who recently left taking my 2 beautiful kids.

I am assuming this allegation refers to an incident before my kids were born - over 6 years ago.

My wife gave up work 1 year before my eldest was born. At that time she switched from a pub drinker to a home drinker.

The day in question was a summer weekend day and it was evening time - 5pm onwards. I have a large garden and I love gardening. I suffer from mild OCD and so having a large driveway with clay block paving I had a moss problem. My solution at that time was to use cheap Steak Knives and basically scrape. Its hard work and I started in the evening to avoid the daytime sun.

To cut a long story short my wife attacked me on the drive after she had started to drink and it happened so fast that the knife cut her lower left arm. We immediately went to A&E and it was dealt with using glue and a patch which eventually washed off.

I foolishly never reported this incident but I have had 2 drinking incidents where I have called the police. In fact the police have attached this allegation of assault on to my 3rd callout when my wife took my kids last week. I have the reference number of this 3rd callout and the one previous to that since they occurred this year. I have asked the police to provide me the first callout reference number as well but since it has been many years then I don't think they will bother. The main reason for this recent escalation and subsequent flight is that my wife has become paranoid due to the drinking and I was also forced to engage with my local GP and the Police - I have no one else (family or friends)

I have never been called in for questioning so please can you give me do's and dont's and any other wise advice.

Thanks
Richard

Make sure you have legal representation.

[wildoliver]

I'd also not be in a hurry to disclose the OCD.

Concentrate on your wifes drinking/mental issues.

[bluenosewrx]

Dont's-Put on a open forum

Do's- Take a lawyer

Good Luck

[wc98]

do all you can to stay calm and get custody of your kids as soon as possible. having had the experience of an alcoholic mother as a young child the longer your kids stay with her the worse the damage will be to them in the long term. hope this works out for you , i imagine there is nothing worse than knowing your kids are in the care of someone not fit to look after them.

[richarda0109]

Thanks for your very quick replies
I don't have a lawyer so I am now worried. Should I engage one now?
I have read in previous topics in this forum where the police can and will use evidence you give but I don't want to say nothing!
I have no one to turn to hence I turned to you guys.

Richard

[JustinP1]

richarda0109 said:

I don't have a lawyer so I am now worried. Should I engage one now?
Richard

Yes. Without a doubt.

You will get many well meaning replies on this forum but this is the bottom line.

The police will take the allegation seriously, and you will be interviewed by someone who extracts evidence to support a conviction for a living.

A simple slip of the tongue could come back to haunt you. A solicitor will know the best way to handle the interview and also present the information you have supplied above in order to inform the police that the allegation is malicious and baseless.

ETA there will be a duty solicitor available at the police station, however, considering the seriousness of the situation, and the fact that it does sadly seem you may need a lawyer in the future, now is an opportune moment to get one.

Edited by JustinP1 on Monday 9th March 15:18

[jbsportstech]

wildoliver said:

I'd also not be in a hurry to disclose the OCD.

Concentrate on your wifes drinking/mental issues.

yes less is more no long stories about how you have ocd. Just scraping weeds out on the joints on your paving with a knife and drunk wife attacked you etc!!

[JustinP1]

jbsportstech said:

wildoliver said:

I'd also not be in a hurry to disclose the OCD.

Concentrate on your wifes drinking/mental issues.

yes less is more no long stories about how you have ocd. Just scraping weeds out on the joints on your paving with a knife and drunk wife attacked you etc!!

This is precisely why a solicitor is needed to formulate a coherent series of events, and even perhaps have some of the supporting evidence ready.

[richarda0109]

It looks like a duty solicitor is the way to go then since I don't have anyone else.
Will I / duty solicitor see the allegation against me before we go in so that we can prepare?

Thanks once again
Richard

[V8forweekends]

OP - first off, sympathy. Secondly, not a fan of Police or Lawyers on the whole, but as they both (correctly) remind us - sometimes we have no choice.

You need proper legal advice and representation. The Police get paid whatever happens (actually so do the Lawyers) but at least the Lawyers don't have to try to be impartial (much).

The Police aren't evil, but they aren't really there to help you either. They are not your friends - they are public servants with a difficult job to do.

Edited by V8forweekends on Monday 9th March 15:50

Edited by V8forweekends on Monday 9th March 15:50

[gruffalo]

This thread is worth a read.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I would get yourself your own legal representation and not rely on the police duty solicitor as I feel you may need some continuity of advice going forward.

[ruggedscotty]

Not an ideal situation to be in and looks pretty much like your ex is going down the point scoring thing....

You need to be careful of what you put out there on an open forum.

You need to get proper advice from someone that is experienced and able to guide you in this minefield.

Best of luck as you will need it.

[Speed Badger]

Ah the old 'scraping moss up from the paving using steak knives' story eh?!

Just stick to the truth

[rambo19]

No comment all the way.

[BobSaunders]

Engage with a solicitor. Do not go into the interview without legal representation.

Legal representation is not a duty solicitor on the telephone, or coaching over the telephone before. It's someone in the room with you.

Although you have nothing to be ashamed or concerned about, and feel that simply telling the truth will help you, it will not. Yes, tell the truth, but tell the truth with legal representation present to manage the process.

If you can not find legal representation easily available, call the officer listed (and should be listed on the letter or when they called) ask them to postpone until you can find it.

Remember the police have a job to do, they have had a potential serious complaint and they have duty to investigate it. They are also human beings, so staying calm is always best.

A quick google in your local area will find a solicitor. Make sure you can chat to them first about legal avenues, instead of simply meeting them there, define costs up front. Do not do the no blame accident solicitor thing, find a decent solicitor. Ask around at work for a legal guy, you'll be surprised how many people actually know one. I found mine via asking at the rugby club - i have three for various odds and ends now.

I turned up to a simple crash/accident chat with an officer after getting called in to have a chat, it turned into a taped interview and got thoroughly turned over by the officer, it went from a simple crash to two counts of dangerous driving. You could see in the interview notes where i just lost the will to carry on and just started to agree with what he said back to me - i was tired and he tied me in knots with maths and braking science. I was young, had been at work all day, hungry, and thirsty with no real idea of what was going on. That ended up in crown court before it got thrown out and bumped down to a driving without due care - took four years.

I am sure a proper solicitor/legal advisor will be along in a bit to lend some proper advice.

Good luck OP, do not be to concerned, i am sure it will sort itself out eventually.

[eldar]

rambo19 said:

No comment all the way.

Perfect example of why you need a solicitor rather that listening to someone on the internet potentially talking bks.

[skeggysteve]

Question for resident BiB:

OP say he has been 'called in for questioning' does this mean the the police are not considering the alleged offence that seriously?
Would I be right in thinking that if the police thought it was a serious offence they would have arrested him?

[aw51 121565]

richarda0109 said:

...

I am assuming this allegation refers to an incident before my kids were born - over 6 years ago.

...

I'd wager it is nothing to do with this at all , rather it is some imagined very recent event which she has reported due to her current mental health issues.

As upthread, go prepared with a solicitor you've met beforehand and see what happens when you both get to interview. Some solicitors will give a free initial consultation for 30 minutes (it was called something like the "green paper scheme" when I used this service back in 2003 for a chat about something, but no doubt it's not called that now though ).

And Good Luck .

[anonymous-user]

eldar said:

rambo19 said:

No comment all the way.

Perfect example of why you need a solicitor rather that listening to someone on the internet potentially talking bks.

Agreed.

As others have said, as for legal representation when at the police station.