Furious with the useless police, who do I complain to?

[deevlash]

About a year and a half ago I was assaulted at work. A junkie scumbag hit me in the face when I'd asked him to leave after catching him stealing. It was pretty open and shut, I had cctv of the incident and knew the guys name and had a witness.

The cctv was clear as could be and I personally burnt it off an annotated the whole thing with timings etc etc.

Skip forward and the case eventually came to court about 6 months ago. It was adjourned as the police technical support unit had somehow been playing with their dicks for 6 months and not transferred the footage onto some kind of dvd that could be played in court. ( I had the whole fking thing transferred onto my phone the same day so it's not like it's fking difficult).

3 months ago I go back to court only to be told "oh sorry, we still havent got the footage yet" and it was adjourned again. Meanwhile junkie stfaces solicitor is whining that its unfair to make him wait this long but I'm assured it will go ahead anyway.

Skip forward to now and I find out through the grapevine that junkie has had the case against him dropped.

Pissed off doesn't cover this one I'm afraid. I want to voice my displeasure to someone, who do I call/write to? I'm in Scotland so I guess it's the Procurator Fiscals office but is there a specific "I'm fking pissed off" hotline?

[tenohfive]

Have you spoken to the officer in the case? Might be worth confirming if the case is being dropped rather than going via the grapevine. If it has been they'll be able to explain to reason(s) for that. From that you'll have a better idea where your complaint needs to go.

[deevlash]

I've no idea who the officer is, it was ages ago and I havent met him or had any correspondence from him/her or the prosecution in any way shape or form aside from getting summons to appear as a witness since the incident.

The justice system in this country is a joke. I bet of I was doing 101 fking mph I'd be hauled over the coals and they'd have no bother providing the pissing video evidence for that.

[tenohfive]

Have you got a crime number? If not, do you remember the date that it happened? If either is 'yes,' then ring up the forces non emergency number. Explain that you would like to speak to the officer in the case for the crime concerned.

They will be best placed to answer your questions.

[deevlash]

I guess I could try and find out the date it happened, it was a loooooong time ago.

[BDZ]

Also worth ringing the court direct to ask what the definite outcome was.

[streaky]

deevlash said:

I guess I could try and find out the date it happened, it was a loooooong time ago.

I can remember significant events in my lifetime ... this was obviously more commonplace for you to have forgotten the date.

Streaky

[streaky]

Remember, the offender has 'uman rites ... and sometimes it appears that they transcend those of the victim.

The victim quickly gets over the assault (or whatever), the offender is filled with remorse and this can blight their lives evermore. Dropping the charge helps them come to terms with their momentary loss of control. State-funded counselling assists them too, as do a range of other handouts.

Blame B'Liar.

Streaky

Cynic? Moi? Mais non, mon amis.

[9mm]

streaky said:

I can remember significant events in my lifetime ... this was obviously more commonplace for you to have forgotten the date.

Streaky

I certainly can't remember significant dates. I could not possibly tell you the birthdates of 50% of my family, the date I passed my driving test is lost in the mists of time and I certainly couldn't get closer to one year either side of the years I started and finished with employers.

[boobles]

Anyone who breaks the law for anything fairly serious shouldn't have rights full stop!

The british justice system is disgusting & they wonder why some people deal with it in other ways.

[Oggs]

deevlash said:

I guess I could try and find out the date it happened, it was a loooooong time ago.

Surely if you were going to court only 3 months ago you should still know the date of the incident.

[AJI]

Write it in to a newspaper, this lack of action from the police is disgusting.

[rsv gone!]

9mm said:

streaky said:

I can remember significant events in my lifetime ... this was obviously more commonplace for you to have forgotten the date.

Streaky

I certainly can't remember significant dates. I could not possibly tell you the birthdates of 50% of my family, the date I passed my driving test is lost in the mists of time and I certainly couldn't get closer to one year either side of the years I started and finished with employers.

Then a clever brief could paint you as an unreliable witness.

[jith]

deevlash said:

About a year and a half ago I was assaulted at work. A junkie scumbag hit me in the face when I'd asked him to leave after catching him stealing. It was pretty open and shut, I had cctv of the incident and knew the guys name and had a witness.

The cctv was clear as could be and I personally burnt it off an annotated the whole thing with timings etc etc.

Skip forward and the case eventually came to court about 6 months ago. It was adjourned as the police technical support unit had somehow been playing with their dicks for 6 months and not transferred the footage onto some kind of dvd that could be played in court. ( I had the whole fking thing transferred onto my phone the same day so it's not like it's fking difficult).

3 months ago I go back to court only to be told "oh sorry, we still havent got the footage yet" and it was adjourned again. Meanwhile junkie stfaces solicitor is whining that its unfair to make him wait this long but I'm assured it will go ahead anyway.

Skip forward to now and I find out through the grapevine that junkie has had the case against him dropped.

Pissed off doesn't cover this one I'm afraid. I want to voice my displeasure to someone, who do I call/write to? I'm in Scotland so I guess it's the Procurator Fiscals office but is there a specific "I'm fking pissed off" hotline?

It is 100% the Fiscal's responsibility to see this through court to conviction. If there is a problem with evidence supplied by or through the police it is up to the Fiscal to get it sorted. In my experience, when it comes down to anything even remotely technical, they are worse than useless.

Contact the Fiscal, NOT his depute, in writing and tell them you require a full explanation as to why this individual was not prosecuted; particularly in the light of such overwhelming, crystal clear evidence supplied by you. Ask him what he is going to do about it and what compensation is available for your injuries and their incompetence.

If you do not get a satisfactory reply, write to the Lord Advocate's Office in Edinburgh: he is responsible for the licensing and behaviour of all Procurators Fiscal in Scotland.

[Cat]

deevlash said:

I guess I could try and find out the date it happened, it was a loooooong time ago.

Check the witness citation you were sent - it will have "Date of involvement" on, that will be the date of the incident.

Cat

[sim16v]

deevlash said:

I guess I could try and find out the date it happened, it was a loooooong time ago.

If you've annotated the CCTV footage as well as you've already mentioned, it will have the dates and times on there.

Try looking on your phone?

[sidaorb]

Your local forces enquiry centre should be able to easily find the offence record from your full name and date of birth, if you have a rough idea of month and year this helps if you have had lots of dealings with the police.

[caymanred]

deevlash said:

The justice system in this country is a joke. I bet of I was doing 101 fking mph I'd be hauled over the coals and they'd have no bother providing the pissing video evidence for that.

so true......easy when it suits it seems

[defblade]

I had a similar one a few years back.

Company had provided DVD and printed stills of shoplifter.

Case dropped as the "technical department" couldn't get around to transfering the DVD to video tape (remember those? This wasn't that many years ago!). Apparently "they don't have a DVD player in the court". Do you know what, I'd have bought them one myself if they'd have just asked

[Lucas Ayde]

streaky said:

Remember, the offender has 'uman rites ... and sometimes it appears that they transcend those of the victim.

The victim quickly gets over the assault (or whatever), the offender is filled with remorse and this can blight their lives evermore. Dropping the charge helps them come to terms with their momentary loss of control. State-funded counselling assists them too, as do a range of other handouts.

Blame B'Liar.

Streaky

Cynic? Moi? Mais non, mon amis.

Given the facts related by the OP the case was dropped because of crap service from the police, not because of those pesky human rights that get blamed for everything.