Suspects 'denied' lawyer access

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Police are flouting rules to protect people in custody by denying suspects legal representation for "intelligence interviews", lawyers have claimed.

Such interviews are used by police to gather information on crimes other than what the suspect is accused of.

Two London criminal lawyers told BBC Radio 4's Law In Action they fear suspects could be induced to make confessions.

But a senior police superintendent says suspects' rights are safeguarded.

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) is being sidestepped by police, the solicitors allege.

PACE aimed to stop unorthodox police questioning techniques fictionalised in television shows like The Sweeney, or pastiched recently in the 70's timewarp cop drama, Life On Mars.

The act's codes of practice enshrine a person's right to have a solicitor present whenever they are interviewed in custody.

Intelligence interviews are used by police to gather information on crimes other than what the suspect is accused of.

It seems to me this is an opportunity for score settling or for people to give false information to the police Greg Foxsmith, solicitor

But solicitor Greg Foxsmith claims police insisted that one of his clients should have an intelligence interview at the end of their investigation into an alleged robbery.

"I was told questions would be put to my client but I had no right to be present - I was expressly excluded from the interview although I asked to be present.

"I had to make enquiries about that and I understand it is now an initiative across the whole of the Metropolitan Police but it doesn't seem to be provided for by PACE.

"I have to say I do have some concerns what these interviews are for and what the effect of them might be."

Mr Foxsmith said the interview for the investigation was aggressive and his client was accused of lying - "yet 10 minutes later in another interview room they were asking him questions and presumably quite happy to believe him."

He added: "It seems to me this is an opportunity for score settling or for people to give false information to the police and it can be a very dangerous tool."

The solicitor said his client was told he had to take part in the interview although he could have stayed silent or refused to answer questions "but without the protection of a solicitor being there who knows what pressure was put on him?"

PACE aimed to stop unorthodox police questioning

Anthony Edwards, another solicitor, said he had a similar experience with a client and saw notices in the police station that suggested such interviews will be conducted in line with PACE.

"It's a nonsense - they are excluding solicitors, who are an essential protection; they're not tape recording them. It is not clear to me what promises might or might not be made to encourage people to talk to the police

"It opens up all the dangers the codes of practice were designed to stop."

The interviews can only last 10 minutes but Mr Edwards argues that this creates a period of time when the arrested person is being detained illegally and this time would be unaccounted for on the custody records.

He said one of the essentials of PACE is that a solicitor can check records of his client in custody and be "confident police have not had a quiet word with a client making promises they may or may not keep."

"This interview is not about anything for which the person is under arrest."

It may not be the wish of a detainee to have a solicitor present Ch Supt Derek Barnett

He said he was concerned that this had been going on for some time with the exclusion of lawyers.

Both solicitors said this practice needs regulating and the regulation should form part of the current review the Government is carrying out into PACE.

But Ch Supt Derek Barnett, Vice President of the Police Superintendents' Association, denied that PACE was being breached.

He told Law In Action, "In such circumstances it may not be the wish of a detainee to have a solicitor present.

"They may feel uncomfortable discussing other matters in their presence or there may be a conflict of interest with other people known to the solicitor or indeed there may be issues of confidentiality that the detainee has," he said.

"What I should point out is that there is absolutely no obligation to take part in these debriefings and it is difficult to envisage that it would be fruitful if a detainee was denied his wish to have a solicitor present."

He said that some forces have guidelines which state a record should be made of these conversations.

Ch Supt Barnett said that if lawyers were unhappy with intelligence interviews, they could make representations to the government review.

<i>Law In Action is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Tuesday 5 June 2007 at 1600 BST.</i>