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Criminal Litigation · 5 min

Arrested on a Friday: the first six hours

Almost everything that damages a defence happens before a lawyer arrives — and most of it is voluntary.

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Halima BalaPartner — Criminal Litigation
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A Friday arrest is a tactical choice as often as it is a coincidence. It compresses the window in which a court can be reached and lengthens the time available for a statement to be taken. Understand that, and the first six hours look different.

Say less than you think you should

The instinct of an innocent person is to explain. Explanation, given without counsel, in an unfamiliar room, at speed, produces inconsistencies — and inconsistencies are the raw material of a prosecution case. You are entitled to counsel before a statement. Use that entitlement; it is not an admission of anything.

I have never seen a statement volunteered in the first hour that improved a defendant's position. I have seen many that decided the case.

Read anything before you sign it, and do not sign a blank or partially completed page. Where a statement has been recorded, ask that it be read back and note any correction on the face of the document.

Call one person who can instruct counsel and hold documents. Bail applications move faster when someone outside is already assembling sureties, means of identification and evidence of address rather than starting on Monday morning.

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Halima Bala

Halima defends individuals and companies in economic and general crime matters. Eight years at the prosecution table shaped how she reads a charge sheet: for the weakness the drafter already knows is there.

All writing by Halima
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