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.

[jake-the-peg]

It is not surprising that the registration plate should match his vehicle.

If you are planning on fitting fake number plates you will obviously take down the number from a similar vehicle rather than making one up at random.

If you make one up at random and the Police do a check on your plate from within a patrol car it will turn up a wrong vehicle and you'll get nicked.

Chance are this is a 'cloned' vehicle. I take it you have not had any strange speeding or parking tickets?. If not you may before long.

[jake-the-peg]

PS Talk to the DVLA about getting a new number plate if you think this is the case.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/VehicleCrime/DG_10020050

Don't know if they'll accept the application until the Police are happy he's not to blame but I'd try as soon as possible.

[xanderma]

Hi again
Unfortunately there are no logs of vehicles in and out etc but thanks for the suggestion.

It is certainly not a wind-up - the Police contacted my husband's employer firstly (as registered keepers of the vehicle) and they passed on his mob number which the police called - and bizarrely, the officer is someone I used to work with years ago so I know he's genuine.

There is a van with just one letter different from my husband's which is in this area - same in all other details - so mis-reading of the plate is maybe a possibility, as is cloning which I hadn't considered. I also thought she might have seen the "incident" in a white van, failed to get the number but caught up with what she thought was the same one but got it wrong and implicated my husband.

As for shaving his head - well, I suppose he could but you can't fake genuine baldness!! However, yes we do have photos from around the time - we got married 4 days later!! Some wedding present this is :-(

Thanks you all once again
Oh and lol at the multi-tasking comment!!

[FrankGalvin]

I sympathise with the poster.

A few years ago I had to 'answer a few questions' (informally) about failing to report a road traffic accident.

A witness told police my registration number and model of car, and even the colour. I also occasionally drove in the area where the accident was alleged to have occured. Banged to rights?

Well, it wasn't looking good for me until I remembered that at the material time I was at a funeral and the circumstances of which provided me with a 100% cast iron alibi. No doubt checked out later by the police.

Point is: however 'dodgy' our friend's husbands position appears, he could well be telling the truth.

The good thing about driving a van is that so many of them look the same. White Transit' types, for example.

The term 'beyond reasonable doubt' springs to mind.

[Bjohn]

I've gotta ask - is the van elevated - ie is the drivers cabin higher than the cabin of the car the women was driving? If so how can someone in a lower cabin see the genital area of a person driving in a van that is elevated higher?

I bet nothing comes of this - there sounds like there is no proof whatsoever. How on earth do the police get off by listening to such rubbish and putting innocent people through the stress?

[fredpuli47]

Bjohn, the police have a duty to investigate. The Crown Prosecution Service have a duty to examine the evidence and decide a) whether there is a prima facie case b) if there is, whether there is a reasonable prospect of getting a conviction ( a rather higher standard than whether, in theory, there's a case) c) whether it is in the public interest to prosecute. They will not automatically assume that any witness is telling the truth but will consider all of those factors a) b) and c).

This is case involves identification. The CPS will look very closely at it for that reason. The CPS will look very closely at what evidence there is to show that this man, and only this man, could have committed the alleged offence and that it must have been this vehicle involved. Identification evidence, even when a witness claims to have seen the whole event and seen the suspect clearly, is always difficult and many a mistake has been genuinely made by witnesses. It's also a case of a sexual nature. Such cases used to require some corroboration of the complainant. Times have changed now, but the CPS will be looking closely at the circumstances of any such complaint, nonetheless.

[xanderma]

My husband's van is a normal Astra van (i.e. car height) and the woman was driving a 4x4.

My husband went to the police today and has been told he must take part in an identity parade. We now know the part of the road where the incident took place was not an area where he ever drives. However, he has been made to feel that he has to prove his innocence rather than the other way round.

I agree that the police must follow up these cases, and it's right that they should take things like this seriously - but being an innocent party on the receiving end is worrying, and extremely frightening.

Thank you again for your comments and advice.

[Rollo]

He does not HAVE TO take part in an identity parade if he does not want to.

If there is a prosecution the CPS have to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

[jake-the-peg]

Don't forget to follow up with the DVLA.

Even if it's just a letter advising them of the situation. It will make things easier if in a few months time when you think this is all behind you, you suddenly get mysterious speeding tickets.

[Pigletion]

just a thought, does he have any credit card transactions from then buying e.g. petrol in a completely different place? Or something else that people who do a lot of driving might buy. If so, that and probably cctv from the garage or whatever would clear it up.

[Eve]

I was going to suggest checking debit or credit card transactions, even internet history which could, if nothing else, jog your memory about what he was doing on the day.

Was there no CCTV around? It's all over the place round the city centre where I live.

[xanderma]

Well after the longest 2 months of our lives, the police finally dropped the case due to lack of evidence - my husband was not picked out in the id parade, he doesn't match the description and his head office had proof that he was elsewhere when the "incident" took place. Seems the only "evidence" they had was a photo of a vehicle with his registration on the road in question, although we don't know exactly where on the road (it is a major road into the city, and about 20 miles long!) and what time the photo was taken. So it's been 10 long weeks of worry for us, but thank goodness it's finally over before Christmas.

The story the woman told didn't add up in so many ways, so beware if you are accused of something similar, gents, because we definitley didn't feel that "innocent until proven guilty" came into play this time.

Thank you for all your advice on here.