If you have been called to attend a voluntary police station interview under caution, then you should instruct a specialist motoring solicitor to represent you during your police station interview. You should not use or attempt to use the information contained within this page to represent yourself at the police station, you should instruct a suitably qualified motoring solicitor or ask for the Legal Aid duty solicitor at the police station. A Police Officer has the right interview a person he thinks useful information can be obtained from, when investigating a potential criminal offence. At the commencement of the police station interview, the interview is recorded on a digital disk and the police officer will caution the suspect, the caution is then explained to the suspect. If the police have enough evidence to charge a suspect without an interview, then in such circumstances an interview may not take place, as the police do not require any further evidence. An example of this is usually Drink Driving, as evidence from the intoxilyzer machine will usually be sufficient to authorise a Drink Driving charge, therefore the police may not deem it necessary to conduct a police interview.
The Police Station Interview
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There are so many pitfalls when talking to the police at interview. And the even bigger problem is that police station interview slip-ups can and will be used against you in court. But even that has potential to be used against you for failing to say something really important. Other people just start talking and bury themselves, forgetting that it is for the Crown Prosecution Service to prove the case against you, rather than you protesting your innocence. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court.
Why would I make no comment in interview?
This stems from the basic perception that if you are innocent, you would choose to say so, in fact, you would shout it from the rooftops. So, silence must mean guilt, right? Our experience tells us that this basic perception is often incorrect. There are a number of reasons why a suspect might legitimately maintain their right to silence in interview, even where they are not guilty of the offence in question. Here are some examples:. We often encounter clients who will refuse to answer police questions as a point of principle, whether they are guilty or not. This politicised approach may be understandable in certain instances but it not always the wisest position to take. An innocent suspect is taking a risk if they expect a Bench of Magistrates or a Jury to understand their rationale. This may happen where the suspect accepts being present and involved in the alleged incident but might have a legitimate defence such as self defence.
There is no magic to the phrase no comment. It is simply a device for a suspect to indicate that they have no intention of answering police questions. It allows the police to put questions and the interview to progress easily.
