Law Weblog

Taylor v Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police [2004] (CA)

Thursday 8 July 2004 at 8:24 pm | In News | Post Comment

[Arrest – person arrested must be told essential legal and factual grounds for his arrest – Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s 28(3)]
D a police officer arrested C who was 10 years old who was at an anti-vivisection demonstration with his mother. He had been identified from video and still photographs taken at an earlier demonstration at the same location, where he was filmed throwing rocks and stones.

Held: The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s 28(3) provides: ‘No arrests is lawful unless the person arrested is informed of the ground for the arrest at the time of or as soon as practicable after the arrest’. The arresting officer had informed the claimant of the ground for the arrest within s 28(3) of the 1984 Act and art 5(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights. He was told both the essential legal and factual grounds for his arrest, namely that he was suspected of taking part in violent disorder at the same place on the occasion of the previous demonstration. The words used were sufficient and the arrest was lawful.

D won but C proved that he had been detained for about an hour longer than necessary and damages were agreed for the one hour.