Police interviews and going to court

Voluntary interviews with the police

Whilst many driving offences can be dealt with by means of a fixed penalty notice, where the matter is more serious you may find that you are asked by the police to attend a police station for a voluntary interview. If this is the case you should contact keepmedriving immediately so that we can discuss with you your options and the outcomes which may arise from doing so. It is likely that you will feel under pressure to attend the police station merely because the police have asked you to do so. You may not need to do so, however, and if you refuse the police will be unable to arrest you and therefore unable to interview you. keepmedriving can advise you as to whether this is the case.

In many cases, interviews with the police can lead to admissions being made from which prosecutions follow. The pressure of being in a police station and being interviewed is often enough for many people to admit to matters which were not necessarily entirley the case. If an interview with the police does not take place then the opportunity for that admission does not arise. Even if you do decide that an interview is the best way forward, you may still be better off having some form of legal representation at the interview. Again keepmedriving can advise you with regard to this.

What do I do if I am arrested

In very serious cases you may be arrested. This may, however, merely be on suspicion of committing an offence and the police must still prove it before they can charge you. You will probably be cautioned and arrested on suspicion of committing a crime and taken to the nearest police station. There, you will be interviewed and, if there is sufficient evidence or if you admit to the offence, then and only then will you be charged. We would strongly urge that you contact keepmedriving at the first available opportunity so that we can discuss this matter with you. You can contact us by completing the appropriate online information form which you will find in the Getting Help section, requesting a free, no obligation call-back using the call-back form to the right or phoning us during office hours on 084 4804 4804

The usual procedure is that, having been taken to the nearest police station, you will be brought to the attention of the duty officer who decides upon the action the police will take. If the duty officer feels there are grounds to continue with the arrest then you will be informed of the offence you are on suspicion of having committed and you will be asked if you require legal representation. If you do want to be represented then you will need to supply the police with name of your solicitor and how that solicitor can be contacted. If you chose to be legally represented then you can decline to be interviewed until your representative is able to be present, but if you decide to do without representation you can be interviewed straight away.

If you have chosen to have legal representation then we will normally discuss with you the facts leading up to your arrest and find out how you want to proceed. You may choose to admit to being guilty of the offence or you may dispute the allegations. In either case we will help you in making that decision known to the police and we will then remain with you for the interview. This will take place under caution and will be both recorded on tape and written down. At the end of the interview we will ask for copies of the tape and of the written statement so that if appropriate we can help you to prepare a case for court.

Following the interview, if you are charged or you have admitted to the offence then keepmedriving will request that you be released on police bail. In most cases this will be agreed to, although if the police have suffiucient grounds to believe that you may abscond, fail to turn up for court or commit a similar offence whilst on bail, then they may refuse to grant bail. In this case you will then have to remain in police custody until you can be brought before the court.

Arrest of a relative or friend

If a member of your family, or a friend has been arrested for a motoring offence they may contact you and ask you to arrange a specialist solicitor to represent them. If this the case, then keepmedriving can contact the police, obtain details of the allegations and speak with the detained person with a view to either attending the police station or giving them advice over the telephone.

We are aware that where a person is detained in custody this can be a stressful time for the person waiting at home. For this reason we will be able to liaise with the person at home giving them up to date information as to what is happening (subject, of course, to the detained person’s authority).

Going to Court

Even if you have decided not to be legally represented at the interview, we would still advise you to contact keepmedriving to discuss your case before you go to court. It is possible that even though you have admitted to the offence at the police station, that procedural matters were not observed by the police or that you were not aware of all of the facts prior to the interview being carried out. In certain limited circumstances you may even be entitled to free legal representation and we can discuss this with you. Even if you are not entitled to free representation it could still be in your interest to obtain legal advice before going to court and in certain circumstances we may be able to write to the Court on your behalf dealing with particular issues.

For more information contact keepmedriving either by completing the appropriate online information form which you will find in the Getting Help section, by requesting a free call-back using the free, no-obligation call-back form to the right or by phoning us on 02920 647 513