If you get arrested
If you break the law you could be:
- Arrested
- Searched
- taken to a Police Station and Detained.
Other people can make an arrest as well as police officers. Store detectives regularly arrest people for stealing from shops (shoplifting). When other people make an arrest it is called a citizens arrest. The person making the arrest must tell you as soon as possible why they are arresting you and what offence they think you have committed? An offence is where the law has been broken. Anyone who breaks the law can get into serious trouble, but the law says you cannot be punished as a criminal unless you are 10 years old or above. If you’re under 10 you can still be arrested, but you will normally just be handed back to your parents. Under 10 year olds could be placed on a Child Safety Order.
The person making an arrest must also tell you that you do not have to say anything. Sometimes a mistake is made. If you haven’t done anything wrong you can choose to say nothing or you can explain that you haven’t done anything wrong. Unless you are quite sure that you haven’t done anything wrong, it may be best to leave any explanation until you reach the police station where you will be allowed to talk to a solicitor free of charge.
Remember
Whether you think you have broken the law or not, you should try to remain calm and do what you’re being asked to do. If you run away from an incident it might look as though you’ve done something even if you haven’t. If you try to be unhelpful by getting angry or giving wrong information it may look as if you have something to hide. Being rude or using violence will only make matters worse for you.
Complaints
If you think you’ve been unfairly treated you can complain. The law is quite complicated so it’s best to ask for advice about making a formal complaint. If you don’t understand what is happening or why you are being asked to do something you can ask questions. Your parent or guardian may help you to decide whether you should make a complaint, but it’s normally better to ask a solicitor.
Being detained
You are now under arrest and have been brought to a police station.
The police officer who has arrested you will wait with you until the Custody Sergeant is ready to 'book you in.' When this happens you should listen while the officer explains the reasons why you have been arrested.
The custody sergeant will then decide whether to authorise your detention. When your detention is authorised the custody sergeant will tell you what reasons there are for holding you at the police station and offer you your legal rights.
The custody officer will then ask you for your name, date of birth, address, home telephone number, school which are entered on a custody record.
If you are under 17 the custody officer will require the attendance of one of your parents or a carer. Where this is not possible the officer will get an 'Appropriate Adult' to attend. If you are 17 the police do not need to call your parents to attend, although they will still be informed of your arrest.
You will be searched again to make certain that you don’t still have anything on you which could cause damage or harm, or anything which is evidence of an offence. Your property will be sealed up and kept by the police while you are being detained. Apart from any property which you are not entitled to keep, all your property will be returned when you leave.
You will also be allowed to call either a solicitor of your choice or a duty solicitor to give you legal advice.
Once telephone calls have been made to your parent or carer and solicitor you will usually be placed in a detention room (like a cell) by yourself to wait until your parent or carer attends the police station.
When everyone’s ready, which can take an hour or more depending on the time of day, you will be brought before the custody officer again for your rights to be repeated to make sure that you fully understand why you are being detained.
It depends on your case whether there’s any need to ask you more questions about the offence(s) for which you’ve been arrested. If you are going to be questioned (interviewed) this will be done in a special room. Your parent, carer or appropriate adult will attend and also your solicitor, if you’ve called one. The interview will be tape recorded and sometimes filmed on CCTV (Closed Circuit Television).
The officer investigating the case will decide whether there is sufficient to proceed. If there is not enough evidence a decision will be taken either to grant you bail while more evidence is gathered or not to continue, in which case you will just be released and no further action taken.
When the police decide that they have enough evidence, they will decide how to deal with you. The decision will depend on how serious the offence is and whether you have been in trouble before.
Being reprimanded or warned
If this is your first time in trouble and you have admitted the offence the police may give you a Reprimand or a Warning. There is detailed information on Reprimands and Warnings in our leaflet.
If your offence is very serious, like robbery (often called mugging) or burglary of someone’s home (breaking into a house or flat) you will be Charged and sent to court. (See the next section).
For all of these options the police will take your fingerprints and a DNA sample (either some hair or a swab of saliva from your mouth).
The Youth Offending Service (YOS) has the job of contacting you and seeing what programme to put you on to stop you breaking the law again.
Being charged
Where the police have enough evidence and:
- the offence is sufficiently serious
- you have already had a Warning
- you are not admitting the offence
- you will be charged with the offence(s)
After being charged, you will be told whether the police have decided to give you bail. Bail can be refused:
In the most serious cases such as murder, where the police fear that the young person cause further serious harm, or the police haven’t verified the young person’s details (for example, if the young person can’t provide a permanent address)
If bail is refused social services will be contacted to provide secure accommodation. In practice this can’t usually be arranged before the next court sitting so the young person is likely to remain at the police station until being taken to court.
Normally bail will be granted. This can be unconditional, in which case you have to turn up at the court at the time and date given.
The police can also attach conditions such as times when you must be indoors or not to visit a certain area. This is mainly to prevent you from committing any further offences or interfering with witnesses before the court case.
Bail is a serious undertaking and if you break the conditions or fail to attend court when directed you could be charged with a further offence. It may also make it less likely that you will be granted bail in the future.
Going to court
As a young person you will normally attend Walsall Youth Court. The only time a young person may go to the magistrates’ court (for adults) is if they have committed an offence with an adult or they are required to go to court on Saturday (this would happen if held in custody from Friday evening).
On your first appearance at Youth Court, you should be accompanied by a parent or carer and your solicitor. You should tell the court usher that you have arrived. When the court is ready to see you the usher will call you into the courtroom. The usher will tell you where to sit.
At the back of the room you will normally see three magistrates (sometimes there is just one) and in front of them sits the clerk to the court. The clerk will tell you to stand up to speak to the magistrates. The clerk will then ask you to give your full name and then the offences for which you have been charged will be read out. You will be asked whether you plead guilty or not guilty.
For very serious cases you may also be asked whether you would like to have your case sent to the Crown Court (where a judge sits) for trial
If you plead guilty, the solicitor for the police will read out an account of how you broke the law. Quite often the case will be "adjourned" at this point so that the court can direct the YOS to produce a report about you to tell them what sort of person you are.
If you plead 'not guilty', the court will ask if everyone is ready to give evidence. Normally the solicitor for the police will need to call witnesses, so the case will be adjourned. When you return about 4 to 6 weeks later, if everyone is ready, the trial will start.
First the solicitor for the police will call any witnesses to tell the court what you did. Your solicitor gets the chance to ask questions to check if the witnesses are sure of their facts and to test how good the evidence is. Afterwards your solicitor will call any witnesses for you and you might be asked to answer questions about the offence from your solicitor, the police solicitor and also the magistrates.
If the court decides that you are not guilty, they will let you go. If they decide that you are guilty they will normally adjourn your case while they request a report about you from the YOS.
When you return to court, if you pleaded guilty or have been 'found' guilty, the magistrates will read the YOS report about you. The solicitor for the police and your solicitor will also speak about you and the offence. The court will also look at your offending history (if you’ve been in trouble before. The court will then decide what sentence (punishment) to give you - see court orders.