The appellant a police officer had arrived at work having been drinking. A senior officer asked if he had driven to work. He replied yes, and on that basis had been convicted of driving with excess alcohol. He appealed saying that the question should have been put to him under caution. The magistrates said: ‘we did consider the Codes of Practice and noted in particular the officer gave credible evidence, that he formed the suspicion after he spoke to her; it was in our opinion reasonable for the officer to ask the initial question as to a possible connection to the offence and the circumstances at that time.’
Held: The question had been preliminary and properly put. The statement had been properly admitted. The appeal failed.
Gibbs J said: ‘the justices were entitled to reach the opinion that they did for the reason that they gave. A decision about whether there were grounds to suspect in the particular circumstances of a given case is essentially one for the justices. Where police officers question people, in any circumstances in the course of possible investigations relating to the commission of a criminal offence, there inevitably comes a time when it begins to occur to them that an offence might have been committed. They need to make further enquiries to establish whether there are grounds for suspecting the particular person, the potential defendant, of committing the offence. If the stage comes when there are such grounds, then the duty to caution arises . . the magistrates were, in my judgment, fully justified in concluding that the conversation on those matters amounted simply to a conversation and not to an interview within the definition of the Code of Practice to which I have referred.’
Judges:
Gibbs J
Citations:
[2005] EWHC 1100 (Admin), [2005] RTR 26
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Applied – Whelehan v Director of Public Prosecution 1995
A police officer saw a motorist, the appellant, sitting in the driver’s seat of a car with keys in the ignition in the early hours of the morning, and smelt alcohol on his breath. The conversation which then took place between the officer and the . .
Distinguished – Batley v Hampshire Justices Admn 20-Feb-1998
A licensee appealed his conviction saying that the statements made and relied upon should only have been put under caution.
Held: Maurice Kay J said:’there is force in Mr Stobart’s submission that in those circumstances any reasonable police . .
Cited by:
Cited – Hughes v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 12-Oct-2009
The defendant appealed against her conviction for aggravated vehicle taking. She was found near the scene of a road traffic accident involving a stolen car, and her fingerprint on an isnide rear window. She submitted that the officers had asked as . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Evidence
Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.226283