On Getting Nicked...

Most of what follows will be old news to many people. However, it is vitally important that those who have not come across such advice before take it on board and act on it should they get arrested. It is also worth hammering it home to those who already know it. Lots of us have dropped ourselves in it by talking when we’ve known we shouldn’t!

At The Station

You will be taken to a police station. Once inside a desk sergeant will ask your name address and date of birth. You must give this information. You don't need to give your DoB if you're over 21. Not doing so might delay your release but it is worth remembering that it can make it harder for them to check your record, both at this point and on subsequent arrests. Your belongings will be taken from you. These will be listed on the custody record and you should be asked to sign that the list is correct. Do this immediately below the last item so that the cops can't add anything incriminating later. Do not sign if the list is incomplete, e.g. if your wallet is listed, do not sign unless its contents, such as cash cards, are also listed. People have lost stuff this way in the past. They may also try to get you to fill in a form detailing your appearance, education, political involvement etc. Do not fill it in.

You will be read your rights, these include the right to see a solicitor and to have someone informed of your arrest. You will then be placed in a cell until the police are ready to deal with you.

At some stage you may be charged with an offence. They will read the charge out to you and then ask if you would like to say anything. Answer 'no comment' . Once you have been charged they have the right to use force to take your fingerprints and a DNA sample either from your mouth or by plucking out hairs. At no point do they have the right to use force to take your photo so you can stop them by looking away / pulling your T-shirt over your face etc. They might take it as soon as you walk into the station or at some later point when you are not expecting it however. They might well ask you for your prints and DNA before you are charged 'to speed things up'. If they already have these from a previous arrest then there is little point refusing. If they do not, then refuse, they have no right to use force to do this if you have not been charged. You might at some point be offered a caution, although this is not as bad as a conviction it is still an admission of guilt and will appear on your record. The fact that you are being offered one at all probably means that they are not up for taking you to court. Do not accept it.

At all times in the station you should remain as calm and polite as possible. Remember that you're on their territory.

Solicitors

You should be able to ring your solicitor very soon after the desk sergeant has finished with you. You should do so as soon as you have the chance. It is advisable to avoid using the duty solicitor as they are often in league with the cops and at the very least will offer bad advice. Use your own. On an action you should have had the number of a good solicitor provided. Refuse to be interviewed unless your solicitor is present.

Interviews

An interview is the police questioning you about the offences they wish to charge you with. This will normally take place in an interview room. An interview is only ever of benefit to the police. If they had enough evidence against you to convict you then they would not need to interview you so it stands to reason that anything you say can only work to their advantage.

No Comment

The Criminal Justice Act of 1994 did not remove the right to silence, it merely gave the courts the power to take your silence as evidence against you. This sounds bad but in reality your best bet is still to say 'no comment' . You could explain your silence to the court by saying that you were too confused and scared to think clearly, or that you believe that we should be entitled to the right to silence.

To all questions you should answer 'no comment' .They will ask you a lot of questions which do not sound dodgy, answer them all 'no comment' . If you answer some 'safe' questions and then clam up when they ask you a question about the crime it will look bad: 'What time did you arrive at the protest?' 'no comment' . 'Was the sun shining?' 'No comment' . 'Did you witness any damage being done?' 'No comment' .

They might try all sorts of tricks to get you to talk: They might threaten you with violence, or longer detention, they might offer to drop some charges if you admit to others, they might say that your friends have grassed on you. They might say that they already have enough evidence to get a conviction. Even if any of this is true you still have nothing to gain and a lot to lose by talking. You should answer 'no comment' to everything even if your solicitor advises you to talk - a good one won't.

It is not only for your sake that you should refrain from answering questions. Talking in an interview could drop someone else in it even if you do not deliberately grass on them. You could land someone else in trouble without even knowing you have done so, for example if your description of what happened, or what you could see from a certain point does not tie in with what they say, it could prove that one of you is lying.

The place to do your explaining is not in the cop shop but in court if it gets that far (and it's far less likely to if you don't talk). Whatever happens answer 'no comment' to all questions.

Support Roles

If a friend has been arrested and you know what name they will have given to the police, then it is a very good idea to go to ask about them. The police might treat them better if they know that there are people on the outside showing an interest. You might also be able to take food, drink, magazines and cigarettes in for them. It might also be a good idea to contact their solicitor, just in case the police have not allowed them to do this.