Police bail reforms leave suspects in limbo even longer
A LANDMARK legal move introduced to prevent suspects spending months languishing on police bail has backfired with people now spending even longer in limbo, according to official data.
Two years ago the Government changed the rules stating police could only keep suspects on pre-charge bail for a maximum 28 days, unless in exceptional circumstances. It followed some high profile cases in which people were forced to live under a cloud of suspicion, sometimes for years, before eventually being exonerated.
Instead of bail, suspects are usually “released under investigation”, a status intended to carry less stigma and to accelerate the legal process.
Eight in 10 suspects are now released like this. But data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed that many suspects spend even longer now “under investigation”.
The average length of police bail before charge or release was 90 days, but that has risen to 139 days.
In the worst performing areas, suspects spend up to three times as long waiting for their cases to be decided.
Legal experts argue that the levels of stress waiting for a decision are the same whether on police bail or under investigation. And suspects are often even more in the dark as police are not obliged to offer them regular updates. In 2016, suspects in Surrey spent on average 74 days on pre-charge bail but when the new system was brought in, that increased to an average of 228 days.
In Cambridgeshire, the average rose from 57 to 155 days and in Suffolk from
‘People who may be innocent are forced to put their lives on hold and live under a cloud of suspicion as they wait’
54 to 137. Jenny Wiltshire, of Hickman and Rose solicitors, said: “The changes were meant to end the injustice of people being kept in legal limbo for months on end. The problem hasn’t gone away, in fact, it’s got worse. People who may be innocent are forced to put their whole lives on hold and live under a cloud of suspicion as they wait for the police to make up their minds – without any idea of when this might happen.
“This was obvious when the changes were first mooted. If the Government wants to achieve speedier resolution of crimes it needs to do more than impose unrealistic deadlines on already pressed police forces and provide the funding that would let the police do their job.”
The changes came in the wake of some notorious cases, including that of Paul Gambaccini, the popular broadcaster, who spent more than a year on police bail after being arrested in connection with allegations of historic sex offences, of which he was wholly innocent. He was never charged. Unable to work during that period, he later won a payout from the Crown Prosecution Service over his treatment. Journalists arrested during the Met’s Operation Elveden also spent long periods on bail.
But there have been cases where suspects are taking advantage of the fact that, unlike bail, no conditions can be attached to being under investigation. Figures suggest that one in every seven suspects under investigation is rearrested for separate alleged offences.
Domestic abuse campaigners are also concerned that the release of suspects under investigation without conditions attached does not prevent them making contact with their alleged victims.