Police involvement

THANKS TO KEV LOVE - YOUTH AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT OFFICER, HAMILTON POLICE STATION, LEICESTER FOR PROVIDING THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION

The Protection from Harassment Act 1997

Harassment

In short: A person commits this offence if they intentionally cause another: alarm, harassment or distress by using abusive, threatening or insulting words or behaviour or displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting.
The person committing the offence should know that their behaviour would cause distress and that there are at least 2 occasions when they have done so.
There must be a series of incidents and not separate 'isolated' incidents.
This can be an arrestable offence if it has happened more than once and is not an isolated incident.

Note: Racially aggravated offences carry heavier penalties.

4A(1) A person is guilty of an offence if, with intent to cause a person harassment, alarm or distress, he
(a) uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, OR
(b) displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting,
thereby causing that or another person harassment, alarm or distress.

HARASSMENT is deliberately not defined in the Act but the words 'alarm, distress or torment' probably fit the term most accurately and some adverse impact on the victim is required. It will be deemed under section 1(2) that the suspect 'OUGHT TO KNOW' that their course of conduct amounts to harassment if a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think it amounted to harassment.

CONDUCT includes speech.

COURSE OF CONDUCT requires a continuing saga of problems on a minimum of two occasions. It is sufficient that the whole course of conduct causes distress/alarm etc., there are occasions where a victim may not be alarmed etc. on each and every occasion.

PERIOD BETWEEN INCIDENTS
Two isolated incidents do not constitute a course of conduct. The further the incidents are apart, the less likely they will be looked upon as a course of conduct.

HARASSMENT – PUT IN FEAR OF VIOLENCE

As above, but victim believes/fears that violence would be used.

Assaults

An assault is an intentional or reckless act causing the victim to apprehend (fear) immediate and unlawful violence;
The conduct may take the form of threatening acts, words, gestures or a combination of any two or all three;
The assailant must have the ability to carry out any threat at the time;
No application of force is necessary;

Assault offences vary in degree of violence used:

Common Assault (section 39)
This is the lowest form of assault. For example there are no visible injuries on the victim and is considered a minor assault. This is not an arrestable offence.

Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH)
There is evidence of injury such as bruising, grazing, superficial cuts etc. This is an arrestable offence. There are defences to this offence such as self-defence, lawful sport, lawful correction, consent to assault, and use of force to arrest.

The are further more serious offences such as Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) where the injuries to the victim are more serious such as broken bones. Wounding and ultimately murder.

Where these offences are Racially motivated, the penalties are higher.

Robbery

Commonly know amongst young people as 'taxing'. Robbery is a very serious offence and carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

A person is guilty of robbery if he steals, and immediately before or at the time of doing so, and in order to do so, he uses force on any person or puts or seeks to put any person in fear of being then and there subjected to force.

Reporting Incidents

In an emergency dial 999. This should be where the offence is still in progress and/or the offender is still present or there is fear that an offence is about to take place.

If the incident is over and there is no fear of immediate continuance, then 0116 2222222 should be dialled (Leicestershire area) . You can also call into your local police station to report incidents/crimes.

You should be aware that if you report a crime and a witness statement is taken, then you might be required to attend court to give evidence.

The police will require as much information about the incident as possible, such as what was the offender wearing, were there any witnesses, the exact location, what was said and done etc.

What Happens When A Crime Has Been Reported To The Police?

The crime is usually allocated to an officer to deal with. There will be an initial investigation to try and find witnesses and establish the facts as to what happened. Where there is a named perpetrator, and the offence is arrestable, every effort will be made to arrest that person as soon as possible. It should be noted that there are often counter allegations made that the police will also have a duty to investigate fully.

The Age of Criminal Responsibility

Any person from the age of 10 years old is deemed to know the difference between right and wrong. Therefore if they are suspected of committing an arrestable offence, they can be arrested.

Young people between the ages of 10 and 16 years will be interviewed in the presence of an appropriate adult (parent/carer).

Once the investigation is complete there are various ways forward:

1. If the police are unable to establish who the offender was, then the crime will be filed pending any new evidence coming to light.
2. Where the offender has been identified and interviewed, the evidence will be reviewed and a decision made as to what is going to happen to the offender.
3. Offences are graded with a gravity score for that offence. The more serious the offence, the higher the gravity score.
4. If the offence is serious (high gravity score) then the decision will be to charge and bail (if appropriate) to appear in court, providing there is sufficient evidence. This could be for a first offence. The final decision as to whether the case goes to court lies with the Crown Prosecution Service, not the police.
5. If the offence carries a low gravity score and the offender is a juvenile (10-17yrs) and it is their 1st offence then they will be eligible for a Reprimand. (only if they admit the offence)
6. If it is a second offence with a low gravity score then a Final Warning is given. (again, only if the offence is admitted)
7. Any further offences would lead to a charge to appear in court.

Where a young person is involved as an offender, the Youth Offending Team will be notified.

The decision for sentencing (punishment) lies with the court. There are many options available based on the individual case.

Schedule One Offender

Any person who is convicted of an offence of assault against another person who is under 18 years old becomes a Schedule One offender (even if the person committing the offence is also under 18). The main implications of this are that firstly, a Schedule One offence stays on your record for the rest of your life. Secondly, the offender may not be able to take employment that involves working with young or vulnerable people, such as a youth worker, teacher etc.