Fears new 28-day police bail limit could put victims at risk

POLICE face a 28-day time limit to bail suspects under ‘dangerous’ measures introduced today.

In the biggest shake-up to bail in 32 years, officers have been barred from leaving suspects languishing on bail for months or even years before deciding to charge them.

But police chiefs have warned it could mean suspects will routinely be released from custody without conditions in place to protect victims.

Detectives will have a 28-day limit which can be extended only with the approval of a senior officer or magistrate.

Chief officers say the change in the new Policing And Crime Act will mean the default position will be to release suspects from custody without bail.

But experts have warned this could be dangerous as bail conditions protect victims and witnesses, as well as helping prevent further offending by limiting what a suspect can do and who they can approach. There are also concerns that under the new rules, the release of suspects under investigation will not be flagged on the Police National Computer to other forces.

The College of Policing produced a report last year warning about the reforms, citing the case of Ian Huntley, who murdered two schoolgirls in Soham in 2002, after police forces failed to share intelligence on him.

David Tucker, of the College of Policing, said: ‘There is a danger that a person is released from an investigation without being on bail and other police forces not knowing that person is already subject to an investigation.

‘That is a particular problem in relation to violent and sexual offences or other seri- ous offences where it would be really important that a force investigating an offence is aware of all the issues regarding that suspect.’

The Police Federation has also hit out at the new limit, saying that it was ‘unrealistic’ for officers in complex investigations to make a decision on charging a suspect in that time.

Andy Ward, deputy general secretary and custody lead, said: ‘Cyber-crime, for example, requires computers to be seized and equipment to be interrogated to gain evidence. The results for detailed forensic tests also take some time to come back.’

Until now there have been no restrictions placed on how long a person can be on police bail.

But there has been an outcry over highprofile cases where celebrities and journalists have been left in legal limbo for long periods, only for police to decide not to press charges.

Now, any decision to re-bail for up to three months would have to be approved by a rank of superintendent or higher. Any application beyond this would have to be approved by a magistrate.

Each year, around 303,000 suspects are placed on police bail with about 19,600 on bail for more than six months and 4,000 for more than 12 months.