Interview Under Caution: Do I need a solicitor?
An interview under caution at the police station is also known as a ‘Caution + 3’ interview, or a voluntary interview.
You will usually be contacted by a police officer who will ask you to come to the police station at a certain time because they want to talk to you about an offence.
It will usually be a relatively minor one or something that happened a while ago. Sometimes they will tell you they just ‘want a quick chat’.
You might know what it is about, although often someone will have made an allegation about you without you knowing about it.
What is the caution and what does it mean?
You will almost certainly have heard the caution on TV, either in a drama or in a documentary. It says;
“You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention something when questioned that you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence”.
The first part means exactly what it says; You do not have to say anything at all. Most people who do not want to answer questions will reply ‘no comment’, but you are perfectly entitled to sit there in complete silence.
The final part is again, fairly straightforward. If you answer questions, then whatever you say can be used as evidence at court.
The middle part is more complicated. It means that if you do not answer questions, or leave out something important, a jury or a Magistrates deciding your case might be less likely to believe what you say at your trial, as they might think you have had time to come up with a story since your interview.
Interview under caution; your rights;
Anybody who attends the police station for an interview under caution is entitled to free and independent legal advice. We will attend the police station with you at an agreed time. You won’t have to wait for a solicitor.
You are free to leave at any time, although if you leave before the interview there is the danger that you could be arrested.
If you are asked to attend an interview under caution and you attend the police station voluntarily you should not be arrested, unless the officer can show that one of the grounds for arrest exists. You probably won’t be searched, and you won’t have your DNA and fingerprints taken.
You will not have to go into a cell.
Why should I have a solicitor?
Well, why wouldn’t you? For a start, it’s free. To everybody, no matter how much or how little they earn. That should probably be a good enough reason in itself, but many people still choose not to have a solicitor.
Before you are interviewed, the police officer will give your solicitor ‘disclosure’. They will tell us what you have been arrested for and give us a summary of the evidence. We will then speak to you in private before you are interviewed.
Your lawyer will tell you what you are going to be questioned about and what evidence the police have. We will advise you on the law and if you should be answering the questions or not.
What if you’re not under arrest?
Even if you are not under arrest, what you say or don’t say in your interview is still important. If you end up in court many months later, the Judge and jury, or magistrates, will know what you said or didn’t say in your interview and will pay close attention to it (see above).
If you do the right thing in your interview, you might not even get to court.
If your case is fairly minor and you admit what has happened, you might be given a caution, or your case might be dealt with in another way that means you don’t have to go to court. If you have an innocent explanation, you might not even be charged.
Alternatively, your solicitor might advise you to make no comment as the police do not have enough evidence to take the case further if you say nothing.
Whatever you say or do not say can make a big difference to the outcome of your case, so you should still have a solicitor.
It doesn’t make you look guilty;
If you are ill, you go to a doctor. If your car breaks down, you go to a garage. You get help from someone who knows what they are doing and is there to help you.
The same applies to someone attending an interview under caution.
Just because you feel you haven’t done anything wrong, it doesn’t mean you don’t need a solicitor;
In fact, it makes you need one even more. If you say or do the wrong thing, you might end up getting charged with something you didn’t do.
If you are in being interviewed in the police station, there is no such thing as ‘not very serious’;
A conviction for even a ‘minor’ offence can have a significant impact on your life. It might stop you getting a job, or it might stop you travelling to places like America, and that is before you have to pay a fine, have a curfew or do unpaid work, or even go to prison. Calling us to come and represent you is not ‘bothering us’. It is what solicitors are there for.
What happens after the interview?
Following your interview under caution, you will be free to leave. Sometimes the officer will be able to tell you straight away what is going to happen.
Usually, the Police or the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will have to consider the case and then decide how to proceed. Should they decide there is sufficient evidence against you and that you should go to Court, then you will be sent something called a ‘postal requisition‘ through the post.
The postal requisition will detail the charge against you and will give you the date to attend Court.
If you have any questions or you want us to assist you in arranging a voluntary interview, please contact us on 0207 388 1658 or email lawyers@jfhlaw.co.uk, and ask to speak to one of our experienced criminal lawyers.
John Howey, senior solicitor
Please note that the information contained in this article was correct at the time of writing. There may have been updates to the law since the article was written, which may affect the information and advice given therein.
