Arrested, de-arrested before processing and then questioned

Arrested, de-arrested before processing and then questioned

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robox72

Original Poster:

35 posts

180 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
I was wondering if any of you can help me clarify a rather confusing situation ?
Long story short, I was arrested for ' harassment without violence ' for sending my ex partner 6 polite, non threatening text messages. She called the police the following day, they took a statement but she didn't want to take it any further. 10 days later after no more further contact from me, after I stopped a cheque and after pressure from some of her spiteful friends she called the police and I was arrested at 1am and taken to the local police station. Now I have never been in trouble with the police and was not familiar with the process. So when I arrived at the station I went through the first door into a room and was told to sit there, the arresting officer went through to the next room and I could hear a fairly heated discussion between him and the custody officer, after 10 minutes the arresting officer came out and told me I was ' de-arrested ' and I was free to go. He then said that they might want to talk to me further and interview me, he gave me the option to do it then. I naively thought that as I had been de-arrested that I was in the clear and agreed to conduct the interview without a solicitor. I didn't have an issue as they had screenshots of the messages and I still had them on my phone and I didn't deny sending them as they were polite and non threatening. Did the interview and was driven home by the arresting officer. I thought end of. Wrong, I got a summons to court.

My main is question is, that as I was de-arrested I had no case to answer to, and after looking up the definitions and various legal cases have I been treated unfairly ?

I have taken legal advice but the reason I ask this is I think my solicitor thought I was de-arrested after the interview and I didnt pay it much mind. I am due in court soon and I found out today that my solicitor who knows the full story can't make it to court on the day and I will have another solicitor representing me. I was just recounting the events to myself and after researching the above I am confused as to how I was processed and if it was just ?

Any clarification on this matter would be gratefully received TIA

Boosted LS1

21,165 posts

259 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
Ask for an adjournement if you want your regular solicitor. You may be able to contact the listings dept at the court, phone them, see what they say.

vonhosen

40,198 posts

216 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
Arrest or not is no indication as to whether there is a case to answer or not.
Arrest is a means to an end because certain reasons exist requiring the use of that power (examples, as there is danger of injury to you/others, or to ascertain/satisfy name or address, or allow prompt & effective investigation).

robox72

Original Poster:

35 posts

180 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
To be honest this has been dragging on since November. I just want to get it done and dusted and move on with my life. She also ripped me off for quite a sum of money, and I would like an acquittal ASAP so I can start legal proceedings against her without this ' supposed harassment charge ' being brought up at initial proceedings as her solicitor takes great glee in doing this. And let's face it, it doesn't paint me in a favourable light.
However your advice is probably a sensible option. Thanks for the advice.

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
I expect there's a bit more than sending a few polite text messages and stopping a cheque to receive a summons for harassment, but that's not really relevant.

An arrest is purely a means to facilitate an investigation. The sergeant obviously thought the arrest wasn't necessary and that you could be interviewed when not under arrest (a voluntary interview). Whether interviewed whilst under arrest or whilst not under arrest, it makes no difference.

Nothing you've written sounds like a breach of process.

You should always have a solicitor when being interviewed by the police.

robox72

Original Poster:

35 posts

180 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
Vonhosen. I see. But you can understand how confusing it might be to someone who has never been in trouble with the police before. Being arrested equated to me as being in trouble and then to be de-arrested before any formal processing, I thought indicated that it was a storm in a teacup ( which it was ) and the case wasn't being pursued.
You live and learn I guess ? Thank you for your input.

robox72

Original Poster:

35 posts

180 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
La Liga. I promise sincerely that that was all it was. Nobody can believe it at all. But it's good to know and now understand further that the process was correct.
Thank you for your reply.

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
You're welcome.

Were you not given an 'harassment warning' at the start?

It sounds thin to me but it will have been through the CPS so they must think there's a realistic chance of a conviction.


robox72

Original Poster:

35 posts

180 months

Monday 26th June 2017
quotequote all
No. Nothing. I think I actually said to the arresting officer when he was at the door ' is this a joke ? ' obviously not. I had always treated her with respect and had never even raised my voice to her. It has come to light that she has previously been quite spiteful and vindictive and it was all financially motivated. Which I hasten to add she has been paid in full and then some. 🙈

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
If you have the resources I'd engage a barrister to go with your solicitor.

The CPS solicitor will likely get the file at the last minute and be quite badly prepared. They and the bench are less likely to give the case the 'business as usual' approach they might otherwise do when competing against another one of the furniture in your solicitor, if you have a decent barrister in tow. The barrister will not give a st about upsetting anyone in the room, which is not always the case with solicitors who face the same people day in, day out.

You want the CPS, your ex and the Bench to see trouble coming.

Sadly harassment is a pretty wishy washy offence, yet the results of a conviction pretty harmful (reputationally bad, not to mention the inevitable restraining order and all that goes with it).

superlightr

12,842 posts

262 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
sounds harsh.
OP you mention 6 text messages? have you never sent her any more (ever)? ie could she argue that other texts you have sent have been unwanted/harresment not just those 6?

What did you actually say in those 6 text messages - how long were they?

Just trying to get a handle on why the CPS would run with this. What did you say in your interview? were you cautioned before the interview?

Mojooo

12,668 posts

179 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
What happened is that the Police officer who arrested you got to custody and found out from the custody officer that your case did not meet the criteria for the arrest so you were de-arrested.

Whether you can or cannot be arrested is not always an indication of whether you have committed an offence and are guilty/not guilty.

The arrest is just a means of getting you to the station to interview you 'by force' (i.e you don't have a choice of when it happens). As you were already at the station after being de-arrested they interviewed you 'voluntarily'.

I can fully understand that for someone who does not understand the legal process you thought being de-arrested meant in someway the issue had been put onto a lower classification and you didn't think the interview was as serious.

That being said, in the interview they should have told you that what you say can be given in evidence. Unfortunately a classic case of needing a solicitor to explain this all to you at the time - which you would have been entitled to for free. I suspect you may have declined it because you didn't want to wait for it in the middle of the night. I do have some sympathy for you.

XCP

16,875 posts

227 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Op should have been told that he was not under arrest and that he was not obliged to remain at the police station too.

xjay1337

15,966 posts

117 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
What did you say in the text messages?

mjb1

2,552 posts

158 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
It does sound like there's more to this than you're letting on? Very surprised they didn't offer you a caution if it's as you're telling it.

Bigends

5,412 posts

127 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
mjb1 said:
It does sound like there's more to this than you're letting on? Very surprised they didn't offer you a caution if it's as you're telling it.
You have to fully admit the offence to be cautioned. The victim should also be consulted prior to a caution being issued

robox72

Original Poster:

35 posts

180 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Thank you all for your advice and responses.
My ex fiancé dumped me via her 5 year old son whilst on holiday, when I asked her what was going on she didn't want to talk about it and to avoid making a scene in front of her son we carried on and remained civil. Upon returning home she kicked me out and I returned to my own home. Over the next few weeks we exchanged polite texts and calls with regards to me collecting my belongings. With a friend I collected the majority of my possessions, all done in a friendly and respectful manner. In the weeks running up to the point before I was arrested we had been messaging to meet up to collect the last few items. Also she was claiming that I owed her some money, some money was owed but she was claiming that I owed her 3x the actual amount. I thought that this was a bit cheeky especially as I had paid for half her sons holiday, quite a substantial amount on her home and garden renovations as I thought I was going to be living there, my house was up for sale, I had paid for her car to be repaired, vets bills for cats etc. This is after all the usual relationship stuff that I always paid for eg. Hotels, meals out, drinks, babysitter, groceries etc. So messages went back and forth, trying to arrange a time to meet up, she would always cancel, or make some excuse and I was always accepting. Her messages nearly always ended with a friendly x. We live locally to each other, had mutual friends and I wanted to try to be as amicable as possible. After a polite exchange of messages where once again she had cancelled I then got a text message saying ' I will not be meeting you today or any other day, too much has happened please respect my wishes ' to which I replied ' respect your wishes ? I have been respecting your wishes for the last 2 months and I still don't even know why the relationship ended ? ' I then spoke to a mutual friend and told her what has happened, who was as bemused as I was. I then sent a message saying ' I know that to you people's opinions don't count, but nobody can understand what you are playing at ? ' a little while passed and another mutual friend who didn't want to get involved told me that she had been seeing her ex behind my back for quite some time, this had been mentioned to me before by someone and had my suspicions and months ago I confronted her and asked her to which she went mad dying that I was ' delusional and paranoid and why would she want anything to do with him ' foolishly, I believed her. So I then sent her a message saying ' OK, I now know the reasons, the truth always comes out in the end. Thank you for the deceit, lies and gutless time wasting. Your parents must be so proud ' shortly followed by another message saying ' Good luck to you both, you deserve each other. Their is no malice, in fact I feel like I have dodged a bullet ' the last two messages were in conjunction to a court case in America where a family member of hers who had been arrested for raping his nephew. I saw a clip from a family member saying that he had been tried and sentenced to 5 years. I had been privy to this case from the start and knew how upsetting it had been and out of respect I sent a message saying ' I'm glad xxxx got his come uppance 5 years though ??? ' and finally I sent one saying ' sorry that I forgot all this was going on 2 and a half months out of the loop and all that. My humblest apologies and deepest respect ' and that was it.

robox72

Original Poster:

35 posts

180 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Yes, I was cautioned and the police did follow all protocol. In the interview I just told the truth of exactly what had happened. I wasn't going to deny sending the messages, the police had screenshots, I still had the messages on my phone. As I had been de-arrested I thought that it was just a formality and that it was recorded and I was cautioned in case there were any further incidents or such. I didn't feel the need to have a solicitor present as I would have said the exact same thing if a solicitor was present or not. I have always been taught that if you are telling the truth you have nothing to hide.
The only time I believe the police didn't follow strict protocol was when they arrested me I have two shotguns ' all legally owned and on a licence in a cabinet with full documentation ' and when they seized them I wasn't issued with a receipt or anything. I didn't know where they even were for 3 months ?!

Cold

15,207 posts

89 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Both the police and the CPS need a damn good slap for entertaining this nonsense from her. Typical woman is a victim mentality. How far would this have gone if the gender roles were reversed?

robox72

Original Poster:

35 posts

180 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
quotequote all
Exactly. But she is a very convincing liar. I have been told by a psychologist acquaintance that she is the epitome of a sociopathic narcissist. On reading up on this condition it was like reading a handbook on her. I treated her 5 year old son as my own, invested time into building a good relationship with him. I spent money on the house, garden, pets and vehicles, helped various members of her family out in times of need. Treated her like a queen. None of which was reciprocated in any shape or form. She ripped me off for quite a large sum of money, cheated and lied. Failed to return a £6k engagement ring ( we were only engaged for 4 months ) but what really hurts is the lies and level of vitriol that she has gone to ' to win at any cost ' I could go on but I'm sure you get the gist.
I have read stories like this before, and you are always cynical as to wether the truth has been fully told, but I assure you that this is the case. Friends and family are outraged but have not got involved as they don't want to further ' inflame ' the situation further.