Police officers had gone to the appellant’s house to arrest him under section 2 of the 1980 Act. They obtained no response after knocking at the front door, although at one point the appellant appeared at an upper window. Finding the back door ajar, the officers entered the house through the open door ‘and, this is important, they did so because they were unsure whether the appellant was still in the house or had gone away’ (per Lord Cowie, delivering the opinion of the court).
Held: The officers were acting in the execution of their duty when they crossed the threshold. The question whether the police have acted unlawfully and gone beyond the execution of their duties in entering premises without a warrant must be dependent on the particular circumstances of each case.
Judges:
Lord Cowie
Citations:
1990 SCCR 614
Jurisdiction:
Scotland
Cited by:
Cited – Gillies v Procurator Fiscal, Elgin HCJ 1-Oct-2008
The police went to the defendant’s flat to find her boyfriend. She refused them access, but when they saw him, the police officers called out that he was under arrest under the 1995 Act, and forced their way past the door and the defendant. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Police
Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.276524