Statement
REPORTING A CRIME.
What may appear to be trivial to report a minor
crime to the police can still be upsetting.
whether a person is a victim,or a witness to a
crime,reporting and/or contacting the police as
a matter of urgency is important.
Once the crime has been reported,the police
would ask the person (you),if you would like
your CONTACT DETAILS to be passed to
VICTIM SUPPORT NI
which is an independent local charity,working
with victims of crime or abuse.
If so, Victim Support NI will contact you to
offer help and support.
If you do not want your name passed on,you
should tell the police officer who is dealing with
your case
STATEMENT
SERVICE NOT AVAILABLE AT PRESENT
WITNESS
A person that is a witness to a
crime may have concerns in
reporting it,especially to the police.
Witnesses of crime,play a vital role
in helping the police solve crimes
and in making sure,that justice is served .
What may seem like a minor
incident to you and/or you
witnessed an actual crime,
it may not seem like a minor
crime to the victim.
If the police do not know where
the crimes are happening,they
cannot take any action to prevent
further incidents,or catch the
person(s) responsible.
CUSTODY AND BAIL.
If a person is charged with a crime,
they can either be released on POLICE BAIL or DETAINED
.
in police custody.
BEING HELD IN CUSTODY.
When a person is charged with a
crime and held in custody,they
must be brought to the first
available court,
for the court to decide whether they
should continue to be held
known as (remanded in custody)
BAIL.
Often means that a defendant
enters in to a recognisance a
'bond' between them and the court
and to pay a sum of money if they
break the conditions of bail
If a person is charged and released
by the police bail,the first court
appearance,must be within 28 days
from the date of the charge,usually
within a magistrates' court
If the defendant is held in prison
they may apply for bail,but usually
only when there has been a
change in circumstances since
they last applied for bail.
GIVING A STATEMENT TO THE
POLICE
A statement is a written or in
certain circumstances a
VIDEO RECORDED ACCOUNT
of what happened and may be
used as EVIDENCE in court
The police officer will ask you a
number of questions,in order to
know exactly what happened
GIVING A WRITTEN STATEMENT
If you give a written statement
the police will normally ask to
come to your home or ask you to
visit the police station.
Once the statement has been
written,the police officer will ask
you to read through the statement
to check that it is right,
if you want,you can ask the police
officer to read your statement to
you
the police office will ask you to
sign the statement,to say that it
is an,
ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF WHAT
YOU THINK HAPPENED.
If something is not right in the
statement,tell the police officer
so that the statement can be
amended,
it is very important to do this,
even if you feel nervous about
doing it,as it could affect the
investigation.
Sometimes the police may need
to speak to you more than once
for example,they may need to
check information.
GIVING A VIDEO RECORDED
STATEMENT.
In some cases,if the police believe
you to be 'vulnerable' or '
'intimidated' as defined by law
you can make a video recorded
statement,instead of a written
statement.
Video recording is manly used if
the person is under the age of 17
(soon to be raised to 18) or a
victim in a sensitive case ie a
SEX CRIME.
the person will be asked to go to
a specially equipped video suite,
which is situated in certain police
stations
In some cases the police may bring
recording equipment to the person
home,or another venue that has
been agreed.
The police officer,who is carrying
out the interview,will explain how
it is done before the recording
begins,
A younger person will be supported
during the recording interview.
The police officer,will not discuss
the evidence,that you are going
to give,before the interview is recorded
This is to make sure that you give
the most accurate description of what you saw or know.
HELP FOR VULNERABLE
PEOPLE GIVING EVIDENCE.
If you have communication
problems,and need to talk to the
police or give evidence at court
they can help vulnerable people
involved in criminal cases
Crown Court,Youth Court,and in
the Magistrates' court
WHAT REGISTERED
INTERMEDIARIES DO
They have SPECIAL SKILLS in
communication,
they help speak to the police or
give evidence in court,if you have
significant communication problems
the duty of the Registered
Intermediaries,is the court
they are fair and neutral,they
1) are not on the side of the
witness or defendant
2) are not trying to achieve what
the witness or defendant wants
3) do not work for the police,the
prosecution,or the defence
4) do not work to secure a
conviction
5) are not investigators,legal
representatives oe support workers
FALSE REPORT
Making a false report to the police,
could lead to a fine,or a conviction,
for WASTING POLICE TIME. or
even a PRISON SENTENCE,
for the more serious offence of
PERVERTING THE COURSE
OF JUSTICE
the offence comes with a maximum
penalty,of SIX MONTHS
IMPRISONMENT.
the less serious cases,may result
in a fine of £80.00
In England and Wales,a person
can be charged with the offence
under the Criminal Law Act 1967
s5(2)
which states,
"causes any wasteful employment
of the police" by
"knowingly making to any person
a false report" which
a) shows that a criminal offence
has been committed,
b) creates apprehension for the
safety of any persons or property,
or
c) indicates that they have
information material to any police
inquiry