Arrest
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What you will find on this page.
Warrants and wanted on recall
What happens during the police search for a suspect?
What will happen if my loved one is arrested?
Can I visit someone in the custody suite?
What happens next?
Informing people of my loved ones arrest
Warrants and wanted on recall
Warrants are issued by the courts in connection to criminal proceedings. If there is a warrant out for someone’s arrest the police have the power to arrest, detain and produce them at court.
When someone is wanted on recall, they will be returning to custody due to a breach of licence conditions.
What happens during the police search for a suspect?
Whatever the reason for the police looking for someone, they will use many ways to attempt to locate them. If the police can’t locate someone at their known address they can visit other addresses where they think they may find them. This includes friends, family members, or ex partners, and can be executed at any time. It could be a simple knock on the door or, depending on the reason for arrest, it could be a forced entry.
Social media is a massive tool for everyone nowadays and the police are no different. Be prepared for images and details of concerns to be published and, with that, the comments from those that see it. As you might expect, it’s not always nice and it’s easy to get drawn into responding to negative comments. Try not to engage with rumours, speculation and others’ need for gossip.
If you have someone that has an outstanding warrant, or is wanted on recall, there are things you can do to try and prepare for the inevitable – and you will need to accept that it is inevitable that the police will eventually catch up with them.
You can speak to your solicitor if you have one, and arrange for them to attend with your person. You can contact the police to arrange to go in or, if your person is wanted on recall, you can speak to your probation officer. If you know he or she will be going back into custody, you can get your bag packed and be in control of going in under your own steam.
Key things to keep in mind:
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this will not go away, the sooner it’s faced and dealt with the quicker you can start to move forward
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the police can come looking for them at any time of day or night
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having children in the home will not stop the police from coming
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police are not always discreet when arresting someone; think about dealing with employers, neighbours, and family members as they can all be involved
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be prepared for social media campaigns and how that might impact you and others, especially kids - people love to gossip.
What will happen if my loved one is arrested?
If you are there when someone you care about is arrested, the first thing to remember is to try and keep calm. You will usually know which police station / custody suite they are going to, and at this point you can help your person quite a lot.
If you have a solicitor, contact them. Don’t worry if you don’t, your person will be given one if they want one at the custody suite, but being ahead of the game helps. Be prepared – it can be a long wait for an interview but you will be able to get updates from your solicitor.
If you are not there when your loved one is arrested, you could find yourself in the position of having that call coming out of the blue. The person you are involved with will get a call, if they don’t know your number they won’t be able to call you; they may know someone else’s number and choose to contact them to get a message to you. Try not to be angry if you don’t find out directly.
It won’t be a long call, just a quick ‘this is what’s going on’. This call is recorded. If you are seen as a victim of a suspected crime, the person in custody will not be allowed to contact you.
You can ring the custody suite for updates; it’s a bit hit and miss but if you are down as the next of kin or nominated person you may get little pieces of info.
Can I visit someone in the custody suite?
You can visit someone in the custody suite but be aware that this is rare. The decision depends on a number of things, and any visit has to be approved by the custody sergeant. If it is approved, be warned that it’s a closed visit, meaning that it’s behind glass and you won’t be able to touch each other.
If you know that your loved one is going to go to custody from the custody suite, you can usually take a bag up for them. Click here to see what items we suggest
If your person is under 18 they have to have an appropriate adult present for certain things, including interview. Click the below link to find out more about appropriate adults
Key things to keep in mind:
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contact your solicitor as soon as you can
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try and be respectful when dealing with the custody staff, they can give out extra calls and visits if your person is at the custody suite for a while.
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If you are a potential victim then you will not be able to talk to your person.
What happens next
NFA’d (no further action) - basically, under most circumstances your person is free to leave.
Where this differs is if you get a recall because you are already on licence, whereby getting arrested can trigger a recall even though you’ve not been charged
Bail with charge - they are charged with an offence but released on bail until appearing in court.
They will be allowed to leave but may have bail conditions like living at a certain address or not contacting specified people. If they breach these conditions they can get arrested and taken into custody until their court date.
Bail pending further investigations - the timeframe for a charge is usually 28 days and your person will usually be given a date to attend the police station again.
RUI (released under investigation) - no bail conditions set and no date to return, but if the police want to investigate them further they can either invite them in for interview or rearrest. There is no time frame for this and RUI can carry on for years without an outcome.
Remanded into custody - the offence they have been charged with means they will go straight into prison and await their first magistrates’ date. Reasons for remand include:
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it’s a serious charge
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there is history of previous serious charges
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they have breached bail before
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it is thought they might commit more crime, or
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there is a risk that you won’t show up at court.
If this happens you need to be in touch with your solicitor who can advise you if they will be able to apply for bail at the next hearing.
Electronic tagging can be given by a court as a bail condition, which means they will not be in custody but under the curfews set by the tag whilst still in the community.
Newspapers, social media and gossip - the police can, at the point of charge, release someone’s name, address, occupation and charge details. In some cases the details of your person’s arrest and charges may be in the news. This can be really hard to process, especially if you are left alone to deal with it.
People will always talk and social media is a great platform for gossip and judgement. Try not to get involved with online disputes and keep details of the case away from people’s desire to know the truth. If there is one thing you will find out in your darkest hours it is who you can rely on, and you may be surprised at the reactions of some people. Please use the links provided below for more information
Informing people of my loved ones arrest
Family and friends - only you can decide what you feel comfortable sharing with others. Be aware that sometimes family and friends will get to hear your news from others and that can be unsettling. You should consider this when deciding who, what, and when to tell.
Schools and childcare providers - children get impacted in different ways, they may be more emotional, become withdrawn, display some challenging behaviour or just have lots of questions.) You may find it beneficial to disclose some details to childcare settings so they can support you and your child.
Remember we are always here to help, do contact us if you have any queries or existing fears of imprisonment.
