Statements Flashcards
Explain the difference between a relevant comment and a significant statement
Relevant Comment: Anything the suspect says that might be relevant to the offence
Significant Statement: A significant statement is made when the suspect says something that could be used against the suspect. It could also be remaining silent or refusing to answer a question, which also needs to be recorded
Types of Statements
Types of Statements
Statements will be from various perspectives. As a police officer you will complete a number of different ‘types’ of statement, including:
Police Officer statement as a witness. This is also described as a ‘duty statement’. This describes your involvement in an incident for example witnessing a road traffic offence or public order, and will include your observations of the incident and your actions, for example arrest, report etc.
Arrest statement: where you do not witness the incident, but affect an arrest based on relevant information.
Witness/aggrieved statement: Police officers complete an interview to obtain the victim/witness’s account and transfers this to a statement. It will be written in their words (aggrieved/witness) as it is still their statement and will bear their signature.
‘Loser’/producer statements: these describe where the individual making the statement has not seen any part of the alleged offence, but is reporting items lost, for example from a burglary where the home owner returns after the event and can identify the stolen property. It could be where an item connected to a possible offence has been found by a member of public. When handing the item over to police, in order to ensure continuity and integrity of the item, a statement will be taken outlining what was found, where it was found etc, to demonstrate provenance. Similarly, when officers retrieve CCTV footage of an incident, a statement will be taken from the person producing the footage again for continuity. Although the statement is the testimony of the reporting person, a police officer will complete the statement in the words of the ‘witness’.
Victim personal statement: as with the aggrieved or witness statement, this will be completed by an officer, but describes, in the victim’s words, the impact of the crime (see VPS later in this workbook)
All statements must contain evidence that is:
All statements must contain evidence that is:
Admissible
Relevant
probative (honest)
not prejudicial (opinion formed beforehand).
Consider your obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998 and the defendant’s right to a fair trial. Without integrity and transparency of all witness testimony this lawful right would be tainted.
When you again consider the audience for your statement, to achieve clarity, the statement must also:
Be written in the active voice i.e. I saw…I then went…
Avoid jargon and technical language/ ‘police speak’. If you must use jargon, make sure it is explained – remember your audience
Avoid subjective comments such as ‘acting suspiciously’ - if you do use subjective observations they must be supported with objective facts, i.e. ‘she was acting suspiciously, frequently glancing over her shoulder before looking at the CCTV camera and quickly obscuring her face with her scarf’
Avoid hearsay (hearsay is covered in the Criminal Justice System module)
Evidence of Visual Identification
Here we will look at two concepts used when identifying unknown suspects, 10-point descriptions and the R v Turnbull case law (you will cover more on methods of suspect identification in a later workbook).
Visual identification of suspects can be potentially unreliable, given that an honest but mistaken witness can be a compelling witness
Crown Prosecution Service (2018)
Visual identification of suspects can be potentially unreliable, given that an honest but mistaken witness can be a compelling witness
Crown Prosecution Service (2018)
To mitigate this potential for unreliability, safeguards were introduced as the result of a Court of Appeal ruling. The court of appeal in R v Turnbull [1977] QB 224 prescribed rules to guide Judges faced with contested visual identification evidence. The guidelines are aimed at assessing the quality of the identification.
10-point description
The 10-point description guidance provides minimum considerations when providing identification evidence.
1
Hair colour and style.
2
Complexion.
3
Height.
4
Size.
5
Wearing.
6
Carrying.
7
Distinguishing features.
8
Colour.
9
Gender.
10
Age.
ADVOKATE
The mnemonic ADVOKATE, provides a simple prompt to the points raised in R v Turnbull.
A - Amount of time spent under observation
D - Distance from witness to suspect during incident and at closest point
V - Visibility and lighting conditions during the observation
O - Obstructions to view, whether temporarily or partially inhibited
K - Known has the witness any prior knowledge of the suspect
A - Any particular reason for remembering the suspect or event
T - Time lapse between the observation and any subsequent identification to police
E - Errors in the description provided by the witness compared to the actual appearance
Safeguard is the inclusion of prompts around descriptions of people and vehicles.
Another safeguard is the inclusion of prompts around descriptions of people and vehicles.
The following description guidance provides minimum considerations when providing identification evidence. Breadth of detail recorded while fresh in the memory will be less open to challenge in Court, and these tools will assist in achieving that aim.
People – Hair colour and style Complexion Height Size Wearing Carrying Distinguishing features Colour Gender Age Vehicles – Colour Make Model Type (for example, hatchback) Registration
5 Stage Statement Plan
Introduction Scene Setting Incident Descriptions Ending
Victim Personal Statements
Victim Personal Statements (VPS) were designed to give the victim of crime a voice. They provide an opportunity for victims to describe the impact that crime has had on their lives. Victim personal statements should be offered to all victims of crime (this can include, for example, parents/carers of vulnerable people or a close relative of a homicide victim) at the time of taking the victim statement. The victim can also make a VPS at a later date if they decide against providing one at the time.
The VPS gives the victim the opportunity to explain how the offence has affected them:
Physically
Emotionally
Psychologically
Financially
In any other way
Who can make a VPS?
Who can make a VPS?
–
Any victim of crime at the same time as they give their witness statement;
Victims of the most serious crime (including bereaved close relatives), persistently targeted victims and vulnerable or intimidated victims whether or not they have made a witness statement;
A parent or carer of a vulnerable adult or of a young victim under the age or 18 unless it is considered not to be in the best interests of the child or vulnerable adult.
Others affected by a crime in any other case, can be offered the opportunity to make a VPS at the discretion of the police.
Businesses are also able to make a statement describing the impact of a crime on them.
Should a victim be encouraged to make a VPS?
Should a victim be encouraged to make a VPS?
–
Victims should be given information to help them make as informed a decision as possible, but should neither be encouraged nor dissuaded from doing so.
It must be noted that once they have provided a VPS it cannot be altered or withdrawn, but further statements can be added.
Supporting Witness and Victims
We have already established that the role of victims and witnesses is fundamental to the delivery of criminal justice. When you consider the clip from the ‘Police’ documentary included previously within this module, it may be no surprise that the support provided by witnesses and victims to prosecutions was traditionally very poor. Although Victim Support services have been in operation for over 40 years, legislated support and Government administered guidelines came much later. In 2003 the No Witness, No Justice scheme saw the introduction of witness care units and led to the production of the Witness Charter in 2006. The idea was to reduce the amount of ‘cracked’ and ineffective trials (Crown Prosecution Service, 2012).
The Ministry of Justice (2012) document ‘Getting it right for victims and witnesses’ explains the ‘steady stream’ of improvements in the support afforded to witnesses to and victims of crime. There are now a range of support mechanisms are available to witnesses and victims, some of which have been legislated. These are outlined in the following subchapters.
Victims Code
Victims Code
The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, or Victims Code, is a statutory Government document which sets out the information, support and services that victims of crime are entitled to receive from criminal justice agencies in England and Wales. These criminal justice agencies include the police, The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the Courts and Probation Services. The Code was established by the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, Section 32 and came into effect in 2006. The Code covers the support victims should expect at every stage of the process from reporting a crime to post-trial support.
Witness Charter
Witness Charter
The Witness Charter aims to explain how the witness can expect to be treated throughout the criminal justice system and covers the right to special measures for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses. This is also legislated under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (See Criminal Justice section in this module).
Vulnerable and Intimidated Witnesses – Special Measures
You will have read an introduction to the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act and Special Measures in the Criminal Justice System section of the module. It is important to remember this legislation as for many witnesses the thought of Court can be intimidating, but for some witnesses the process of giving evidence in court can be particularly difficult. The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA) introduced special measures with the aim of supporting vulnerable and intimidated witnesses to achieve their best evidence in criminal proceedings. Sections 16 and 17 of the Act defined vulnerable and intimidated, respectively.
Children under 18 years of age, victims of sexual offences and the most serious crimes, persistently targeted victims and people with communication difficulties are some examples of people who may need special help. These witnesses (described as vulnerable or intimidated), may be allowed to use special measures as described under sections 23 – 30, of the Act, to help them give their evidence in the best possible way.
