Representing a child at a police station

For a child to be held in custody, especially at a police station, can be a disturbing and traumatizing experience. As such, they must not be subjected to any such procedures that may cause them any unnecessary mental distress. When holding a child at a police station, the rules and regulations that protect children must be secured and employed throughout this process. 

 

You should keep the following points in mind:

• An appropriate adult or a guardian of the child must be present at the police station. Such a person can either be a parent, a guardian, a professional of a recognized group involved in child services, or a child's carer. This person's presence acts as a safeguard for the welfare, rights and entitlements of the child.
• Such an appropriate adult must actively assist, advise and support the child. Additionally, they must observe whether the police officials are acting appropriately concerning the rights and entitlements of the children and help the child understand their rights in respect to the particular matter.
• If a child is charged with a particular crime committed by them, they should be released on bail whenever it is possible. This is done to ensure that the child spends as little time as possible in police custody. This right has been provided by the Bail Act 1976. The custody officer may also consult the Local Authority's Youth Offending Team in case of any concerns about the bail of such children.
• A child has the right to legal representation by an appropriate representative (such as one appointed by ourselves). It must be guaranteed that they receive such legal representation while at the police station or in court.
• If a child is under ten years, they cannot be held liable (be charged) for a criminal offence. However, if they are above ten years, they are included in the young person (under 18 years old category).
• If a child is charged with a more severe offence that falls within the exception wherein bail cannot be granted, the child will have to make an appearance before the Youth Court.

• If the child has committed a minor offence for the first time, there may not be a need for court intervention, and it can be resolved outside the court system.

 

Dangers of using the “Duty solicitor”

We strongly suggest that you simply inform them that you will be appointing ourselves (or another solicitor of your choice) to handle the matter and that they should put forward any questions via them. The fraud investigation officers want an easy win, no fuss, one nice easy admission to chalk up, cancel your benefit, possibly top up the DWPs coffers with a nice juicy court fine and move on to the next case. We believe that there may be mitigating arguments, ultimately, as with any case, it is their problem to prove fraud, not for you to defend it. We would not recommend using a duty solicitor as they are paid for by the government and as such have a conflict of interest, they will be familiar with (and hence potentially friendly with) the police officers and not want to give them any problems. Finally, they will also be handling probably hundreds of cases and simply won’t have the right amount of time to dedicate to the child`s case.

 

How we can help

In this situation our “client” would be the child, but because they cannot take on the contractual liability to appoint us to represent them, we allow a third-party (usually the parent or guardian) to open a case to help the child, accepting responsibility for our costs on their behalf. The caseworker would make arrangements for one of our local solicitors to visit the child and represent them. To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by taking advantage of our free consultation service, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link.

 

Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our appointed solicitor and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.