wrongfull police arrest

[REDFOREVER5]

my son is 19 and was pulled over by police at 12.30 am returning home to his girlfriend and child. they said he was driving too slow and suspicious and done a breathalyzer test which was negative as he does not drink, so they arrested him for drug driving. took him to police station and put him on a machine to test him then said he would have to stay till a doctor came and done a blood test, the doctor came and said no need for a blood test as the machine said he had no drugs in his system, he was released at 6.30am after a night of worry for myself and his girlfriend as we did not know where he was. now is this legal and standard practise of the police or would we have right to prosecute as we are all furious with this as they now have his dna and fingerprints, but the worse thing is just basically being taken from the street to a police station when doing nothing wrong, my son thinks the officer was showing off to the new recruit that was with the officer(a young lady). what do you guy and girls think? any help appreciated. thanks geoff.

[Ethel]

Your son should have had the right to make a phone call at least and he had the right to inform his next of kin where he was. He should have had a copy of the police code.

Your son can be held for no more than 24 hours without charge, so being held overnight is lawful.


If your son was driving erratically or in any way to give concern to a police officer then he has been dealt with entirely correctly in being taken off the street.


Did your son refuse to either take the phone call he was entitled to or have his girlfriend notified of his arrest?

[REDFOREVER5]

not too sure on if he refused a phone call will have to ask him, but he did assure me he was driving 30-35 in a 50, no other cars around at the time so the so called driving to slow is not going to be an obstruction to anyone and he was driving sensible. he did say the officer had a bad attitude towards him especially after the breath test was negative. why was he not released after he had been on the machine? why did he have to wait for a doctor to turn up at 6am?. so he is released without charge what happens to dna and fingerprints and above all else his night wasted in a cell because of an officer out to get a arrest. surely this police behaviour can not be condoned, or we could all end up in jail if are face dont fit.

[paraffin]

Hi RED:

The Police have wide ranging powers and in this instance the mere fact that your son was apparently driving very slowly entitles the Police to form the suspicion that he may be either unfit through drink, drugs, or both, thus empowering them to request a roadside breath test of him.

They were then further entitled to take him to a Police Station and detain him for further tests, i.e. getting the "duty doctor" for the blood test etc.

You mention that he has had DNA, fingerprints etc taken: that puzzles me. He wasn't released on Bail pending the results of any of the tests, was he?

The reason I query this is that had he been released NFA (no further action) the Police would have had no authority under those circumstances to obtain DNA etc.

You would have extreme difficulty bringing a prosecution for "wrongful arrest" as you put it. As I've explained, even though you were "furious" as to what happened, it seems as if the Police have acted within the Law and you'd have a hard time trying to prove that it was all done simply for one Officer to impress another.

I'd be interested to know if your son was released on Bail?

[REDFOREVER5]

hi there paraffin,

yes he was release with no further action, his fingerprints and dna were taken when he got to the police station,

they asked for the doctor to come out and take blood test but he never took one,which is strange or would that of been proof that he infact never had drugs in his system, were as now he is still on file as being suspected of driving under drugs.

what happens next time he`s driving home late? details checked and a pull straight away.

i think this is going to be a lost battle to be honest but i think its a disgrace, looks like he has been pulled over by a chest pounding police officer who like to use the law for his own self asteem . cheers Geoff

[paraffin]

Hi again RED:

I misled you in my initial post by leading you to believe that the Police could not take DNA + fingerprints just because you've been arrested. They can, of course, wrong though that seems.

And presently there's a DNA database with details of many thousands of innocent people on it. Opposition MPs, and some Labour, are campaigning to have that changed, rightly too in my opinion, but until if and when it is, then unfortunately your son's details will remain on it. And even more outrageous is the fact that at present the details remain there for life!

If you're interested, there are websites where you can "sign" a petition to have the Law changed, i.e. the Lib Dems have one such form.