Force allowed in citizen’s arrest

MEMBERS of the public are entitled to make a citizen’s arrest – and to use ‘reasonable force’ when they do so.

The statutory power of any member of the public in England and Wales to detain criminals is to be found in section 24A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 19 4.

A person ‘other than a constable’ may detain anyone ‘who is in the act of committing an indictable offence; or whom the person has reasonable grounds to suspect is committing an indictable offence’. An indictable offence is one that can be tried in a crown court before a jury.

But the question of what counts as ‘reasonable force’ is not an exact science and depends on the precise circumstances.

In 19 1, Lord Morris of Borth-y-Gest, a Law Lord from 1960 to 19 5, said jurors should conclude that ‘reasonable force’ would include what any conduct a person ‘honestly and instinctively thought was necessary’.