When to lodge a police complaint if being prosecuted for a motoring offence

Being arrested for a motoring offence is a traumatic experience for most. Following release from the police station, you are likely to be focussing upon the motoring charge you face and how to resolve the case against you either by defending the charge or by pleading guilty and offering mitigation to ensure the penalty you face is as low as possible.

But what do you do if you are unhappy with the way the Police dealt with you when you were arrested? Were the Police heavy handed with you to the point you thought the force used on you was more than reasonable or did you feel like you were treated unfairly during your time at the Police Station? Sometimes the police use inappropriate language and are overly hostile and rude towards suspects. Whether or not this kind of behaviour is something that can be raised in a defence requires expert consideration.

The Police must comply with strict laws regarding their treatment of suspects. This includes only using “reasonable” force with a detainee. The definition of “reasonable” is open to interpretation which can make a complaint a bit of a grey area.

You can make a complaint against the Police in the following ways:

1. Contact the police force involved directly. If you take this course of action you need to go to your local police station and ask to speak to the duty officer.
2. You can contact the Independent Police Complaints Commission. OR
3. You can instruct a specialist solicitor to deal with the complaint for you.

The timing of a complaint is a delicate issue in some cases, especially if you plan on defending the charge. If you believe that you were treated unfairly by the Police during the course of investigation of your alleged driving offence then please get in touch with our expert team here at Geoffrey Miller Solicitors and we can discuss options available to you.