Not Guilty Verdict but now the arresting officer is refusing to release my son's laptop...

[Mammy]

What do we do now? My son got a not guilty verdict but when he phoned the arresting officer to ask for his possessions to be released to him, he was told that there is 'something of concern' on his laptop and he cannot have it back.

It feels as though she (arresting officer) is trying to prolong the agony. We have been trying to get back to some semblance of normality, my son has been trying to find a job etc.

Are the police within their rights to behave in this way after a not guilty verdict? My son is a man of good character with no previous convictions and had a number of friends including an ex girlfriend and her mother at court to support him and offer character witness statements.

I strongly believe that the case would never have gone to trial in the first place if the police had given him bail in order to further their inquiries. The evidence which cleared him was not investigated by the police and we did not have it until 3 working days before the trial.
He spent 2 weeks in prison - what a nightmare that was for him and for his family.

Can he take legal action against the police? Would he get legal aid to do so? he lost his job because of all of this and so has no income.

Any advice, welcome.

Mammy

[myhome]

Hi - it's great that your son got NG

The police have conviction targets to meet especially for sexual offences, so another NG is a slap in the face for them I am only surmising, but I would hazard a guess they are trying to find something else to pin on your son. As they reckon they have "found" something of concern on his laptop it would be something such as illegal images or "evidence" they didn't find before although my understanding is that once found NG you can't be retried for the same offence unless new evidence comes to light.

The best person to answer your questions is your son's solicitor. Or, many solicitors will give a free half hour initial consultation so you could find a criminal defence lawyer and book an initial half hour with him/her.

on another note - would you recommend your legal team? If so please could you post their details on the link below....

http://www.daftmoo.org.uk/mooforum/s...ist-solicitors

Please don't underestimate the time it could take your son and family to recover from this awful experience. emotional scars can take a very long time to heal

Thanks and let us know how you get on - it will be useful information for everyone on here

[whatsgoingon?]

Brilliant news -

As far as the retained computer goes - I'm fairly sure that they're being out of order here and it can only be retained the time of the original enquiry and for that enquiry only, delays are only allowed in very clear instances. This is covered in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 - Pace code B section 7 - I would have thought the best thing is get onto your lawyer about it or write to the head of the station requesting to have his property back and reasons why it has not been returned.

This is something that makes my blood boil - there must be literally millions of £s worth of stuff never claimed because OICs have made it difficult or people are too embarrassed to return to the station.

For anyone recently arrested you are ENTITLED to ask for a list of the items which have been confiscated and retained by the police - it's not automatic.

Good luck

[Rights Fighter]

Ask trial sols to write to the police to find out why they are refusing to return the laptop.

[Mammy]

Thank You for your help.

Thank you all for your help, we are drafting a letter to the head of the police station and have contacted the solicitor's office and emailed our MP.

Mammy