Mistaken identity, accused of indecent act in a car

[xanderma]

My husband has just been contacted by the police. They say a complaint has been made against the driver of his work's van that on a specific day the driver was seen by a woman in a car to be steering with his knees while masturbating and gesticulating at the woman. This was along a dual carriageway. The driver then swerved in front of the woman and braked sharply before driving off.

My husband did not do this, I believe him implicitly. He has agreed to go to the police station on Wednesday to "answer a few questions". However, he is worried, naturally so. He has done nothing wrong, but how does he prove that? If the woman did see such a thing, she must have the wrong registration number, which is possible I suppose.

My question is - should he take a solicitor, ask for the duty solicitor or go it alone? What will the procedure be at the station - will he be under caution, arrested, anything else? Neither of us has any experience of dealings with the police, so have no idea what he should expect, or if there are things he could unwittingly do which will make it look even worse for him.

Can he ask for more specific information which may help him prove he wasn't there? The thing is, this is a stretch of road he uses regularly as part of his work, so he could well have been around at the time. No one else usually uses his van, so I can't think it was anyone else he works with.

We are both worried sick about this. Any advice would be very gratefully received.

[pauln90]

I would expect that as a complaint has been made the "Answer a few questions" will in fact be an interview under caution. That being the case he should be advised of his rights before the interview.One of these rights will be to receive free legal advice. However you don't know what experience the legal representative will have and I have known occasions where junior clerks have rolled up at the station to offer advice..

In view of the seriousness of this complaint and its implications I would advise your husband to seek advice now and arrange for the solicitor to accompany him at the interview

[sara3]

he needs to speak to a solicitor immediately, and have a legal rep with him for his interview. if the police suspect he has committed an offence the interview may well be under caution, and therefore taped.

if the woman has the wrong registration, it probably wouldn't match your husband's vehicle description.

under the rules of disclosure he is entitled to know what evidence is held, but your husband's solicitor will request this.

[sara3]

sorry Paul, your answer wasn't there when I started typing!

[north star]

Check this out too, american, differnet judicial system but the main thrust is apposite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc

[xanderma]

Thank you all for your advice, it is very welcome. Based on what you have said,my husband has contacted a solicitor who will meet him before his interview, and be present during.

Thank you again

[Hymie]

I would strongly recommend your husband have an mp3 player (on audio record mode), in his jacket pocket – so that he has his own record of what is said. If you don’t already own one – they can be purchased from around £10. Many mobile phones have this function as standard.

[sara3]

Eddie, you are quite right.

[xanderma]

Thanks again for the advice, wouldn't have thought of making own recording of the interview.

He doesn't clock in or out unfortunately, and although we're racking our brains to remember the day, it was over 8 weeks ago now (that's another thing, why has it taken so long before he was contacted, he hasn't much of a hope of recalling the day now). And unfortunately, of his two colleagues, one is currently abroad and the other off work sick, so neither is around to help piece together the day. One thing which has dawned on him though, is that he always has his dog with him in the van (a very distinctive dog) which always sits in the passenger seat with him, so if the woman didn't mention this, would that help to prove mistaken identity? Also, the description she has given doesn't fit my husband at all - she described a man with brown hair, my hubbie is bald with a beard.
Ah, well, he's off to the Police Station tomorrow, so we shall see what that brings.
Thanks again for all your advice, it has been a great help.

[fredpuli47]

You get a copy of the tape if you are prosecuted.If you are not prosecuted you won't, presumably, want a copy anyway. The tape is recorded on two channels. One one there is a computer clock voice, counting the time.By turning to one speaker you hear just the time, to the other just the interview, and in the middle you get the interview with the time being spoken in the background.That way you can check that there's been no part edited out of the recording .

At any trial, the defence agree with the prosecution, or get a ruling from the judge, whether the whole or just parts of the interview are played in court or whether it's better to use just parts of the transcript and not play the tape at all.

[magicmerlin]

You say that complainant described driver as having brown hair and that your husband is bald and has a beard. However, as the complaint was made over 8 weeks ago your hubby could have shaved his head and grown a beard in the meantime. Do you have any proof that he was bald with a beard around the date of the alleged incident (eg family/holiday pics, beard is down to his knees etc). On the day of the incident would his workplace have details of where he should have been, delivery notes/job sheet etc. or does hubby have any receipts for fuel etc that might jog his memory.

[horselady]

Can't add any more to the good advice that others have given. Just wanted to say good luck, it must be horrible for you, of course you trust and believe him but it must be stressful.

[craft1948]

does your husband need a hand?

[vulcan]

just a few points that may have been forgotten due to stress and worry,
does your husband use a drivers log book ?
does the van have a tachograph/tracking device fitted ?
is the vehicle booked in & out through security ?
I worked for a company that had these things and proved very useful when one of our vans
was supposedly involved in a hit & run. we were able to prove the van hadn't been out
on the day in question.
Good luck for tomorrow.

[mrs.chappie]

I am surprised the police will even consider investigating this.

"Steering with his knees while masturbating and gesticulating" - everybody knows men just cannot multi-task.

[dothawkes31]

The police must have checked the registration the lady gave them and matched it to your vehicle, it would be a massive conicidence that your husband has a vehicle that matches the description the lady gave AND has the same registration number.
Has your husband or yourself upset someone enogh for them to be making a malicious complaont against you??

Was this lady also driving? what on earth was she driving that meant she could see such detail in the cab of a van from her car? If the vehicles were both stationary it might be understandable, but then she would have seen the dog as well. It does sound abit suss to me,

[dothawkes31]

oh also, when you say he was contacted by the police, did an officer actually come to the house or was it a phonecall? Does he have any daft mates that would wind him up for a laugh? Actually it is just dawning on me that I have answered a thread like this quite a while ago!!!! I have a definate deja vu feeling!