The Metropolitan Police a disgrace!

[The Fifth Column]

Its unlikely the police would charge someone purely on the allegation of another without some form of corroborating evidence. They may well arrest them and interview them under caution and the accused would no doubt go 'no comment' in interview as is their legal right, but unless there is some other evidence then charges are unlikely to follow. If that was not the case then the police would be charging every single person they arrested and there would be countless innocent people charged due to malicious and false accusations by people with grievances against each other and the whole system would collapse. There are some exceptions to this general rule, domestic violence is one of them and police will routinely look to charge anyone accused of domestic violence where the presumption is to look to prosecute wherever possible even if the victim refuses to co-operate. Often the police will seek advice from the crown prosecution service as to whether charges should be made against an accused and the evidence will be provided to the CPS for them to make that decision. The CPS will generally only suggest charges where they feel there is a realistic prospect of a conviction and from what the OP is saying it does sound like it is his brother's word against the accused which in my experience the CPS will not run with. This is not the police or CPS's fault its the law of the land, there needs to be sufficient evidence to prosecute and convict, its not perfect and there will be many occasions when crimes are committed and the shitbags get away with it. Unfortunately in this day and age when the courts are full to capacity as well as our prisons it seems the CPS are raising the threshold higher and higher when it comes to getting cases to court. Add into that the police using more and more lower level disposal options where the criminals just get a telling off or some other form of touchy feely 'restorative justice' punishment and the criminals are effectively just getting away with it. Its not the police that are failing in my opinion its the system that is broken.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

We moan about the British police, but come on would you rather live in the USA where maybe the police would shoot dead the man after your brother pointed him out, then latter on it turns out your brother pointed out the wrong twin who borrowed his brothers coat.

 

[Justice]

Its a waste of time calling the old bill, years ago now an alcoholic neighbour well known to the police smashed my windscreen I almost got arrested for getting irate when they said they couldnt do anything, pathetic. Just recieved a speeding ticket doing 37 in an unbuilt up area pathetic.

 

[tiberious]

That's for a jury to decide. 'I saw him, I had a fight with him, I gave a description to the police. The next day I saw him again, and his ripped jacket, and I know it was him'. If he was totally sure, there's a good chance a jury would believe him.

but not beyond reasonable doubt thats the point. what if I said he attacked me for no reason.. how can you disprove that as its my word against his

 

[Triggaaar]

but not beyond reasonable doubt thats the point.

As I said, that's for a jury to decide. If they think it's beyond doubt, then that's it.

what if I said he attacked me for no reason.. how can you disprove that as its my word against his

If he attacked you for no reason, did you report it to the police? Why not? When we first questioned you, why did you say it never happened? Who had the knife? You're not proving to be a believable witness.

 

[Da Man Clay]

As I said, that's for a jury to decide. If they think it's beyond doubt, then that's it.
If he attacked you for no reason, did you report it to the police? Why not? When we first questioned you, why did you say it never happened? Who had the knife? You're not proving to be a believable witness.

With all due respect - prosecuting every single one on one allegation where there is a break in continuity between original offence and arrest would take the courts into absolute meltdown. One v one is pretty much impossible to prove beyond reasonable doubt and a waste of courts (as well as everyone else's time). There is a little more to one v one in this case but realistically not enough for any defence solicitor to be able to put enough doubt in the juries mind.

As credible as you may be as a witness isn't likely to be enough to prove to a jury that the can be 100% it was this alleged offender who was only detained the next day.

 

[GT49er]

Well I can't claim to know any better. If I knew who the person was though, and they pulled a knife, I would put a lot of effort into getting to police to press charges.

I don't disagree with you, he should be prosecuted. Whether he would be convicted, I've no idea, but habitual criminals often seem to be very well represented in court and get away with a lot more than the normally law-abiding citizen who steps out of line just once.

 

[surlyseagull]

I would have thought there would be some kind of forensics in the garage etc which could be linked to this individual as this was not your bog standard break in after all .

 

[Davemania]

I must support the law, they never get it wrong when you are caught doing 35mph in a 30mph limit..........those speed cameras on a road in the middle of nowhere make the world a safer place!!

The camera at Halland, north of Lewes is a perfect example. Wide open main road, was 40mph for DECADES anyway. Never was a fatality there, no reason to change it to 30mph but it has been and now has caught and fined hundreds if not thousands of motorists in the last few years for no particular reason. I hate that camera. Someone pulled it down a few years back, bent it to the ground. But it's back. Just about everyone in the area has been caught on it, as you only have to touch the accelerator after the roundabout and you're doing 35-40. It's not a little narrow street but a big open road. Made them a fortune

 

[Davemania]

We moan about the British police, but come on would you rather live in the USA where maybe the police would shoot dead the man after your brother pointed him out, then latter on it turns out your brother pointed out the wrong twin who borrowed his brothers coat.

Well not so bad if it's his twin. Near enough

 

[hitony]

The camera at Halland, north of Lewes is a perfect example. Wide open main road, was 40mph for DECADES anyway. Never was a fatality there, no reason to change it to 30mph but it has been and now has caught and fined hundreds if not thousands of motorists in the last few years for no particular reason. I hate that camera. Someone pulled it down a few years back, bent it to the ground. But it's back. Just about everyone in the area has been caught on it, as you only have to touch the accelerator after the roundabout and you're doing 35-40. It's not a little narrow street but a big open road. Made them a fortune

Many of them are just money making schemes, but I don't have a problem with the ones that are in sensible places, built up areas, schools etc etc.....

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

Well not so bad if it's his twin. Near enough

Oh no.......... everyone now knows you voted UKIP

 

[ATFC Seagull]

I've been in situations where no charges have been brought against people (mostly in my student job running a pub) and the police officers always explained why and seemed more pissed off than anyone about it. Obviously we don't know what the deal is here (perhaps no real evidence, sadly), but I doubt the police are taking any pleasure in the fact that this lad has got away with it.