Appeal by case stated by Justices for Sunderland in respect of a decision of the Magistrates’ Court in which the appellant M was convicted of an offence of being drunk and disorderly in a public place. She had been arrested in the front garden of a house, but the behaviour complained of was as she was taken across the public footpath to the police car.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘The Justices were plainly satisfied that the officer made the pragmatic decision not to arrest her from the garden, perhaps for an offence under section 5 of the Public Order Act, preferring what may be described as a negotiated conclusion, which would of course have been in the interests of the appellant. The Justices found that the officer took her by the arm ‘to escort her out of the garden to speak to her in the street’. It is plain that they rejected any suggestion that she was being moved from a private place to a public place simply so as to justify an arrest outside the garden for an offence which had a public place requirement.
In my judgment, in acting as he did, the officer who had had in mind the steepness of the steps in the garden and had wanted ‘to steady her for her own safety’ can properly be said to have acted in conformity with ‘generally acceptable standards of conduct’. I am satisfied that the Justices were entitled to reach the conclusion that they did on that issue. It follows that, the central point of the case being resolved in favour of the respondent, I would dismiss the appeal.’
Maurice Kay LJ, Penry-Davey J
[2008] EWHC 1457 (Admin), [2008] LLR 513, (2008) 172 JP 485
Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
Citing:
Cited – Collins v Wilcock QBD 1984
The defendant appealed against her conviction for assaulting a police constable in the execution of his duty. He had sought to caution her with regard to activity as a prostitute. The 1959 Act gave no power to detain, but he took hold of her. She . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime
Updated: 19 January 2022; Ref: scu.566768
