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Discussion => Legal => Topic started by: Meerkovo on August 04, 2013, 12:43 am

Title: UK - DRUG Laws and Police procedure
Post by: Meerkovo on August 04, 2013, 12:43 am
   I invite all the people from our great nation to post and share with the community and experiences you may have had in court or with police and the outcome. Our laws go in hand in hand with a good amount of EU countries so possibly EU members could contribute to this thread also. I have done my fair share of law study in my life the hard way and the paranoia way :)

Meerkovo
Title: Re: UK - DRUG Laws and Police procedure
Post by: gtgeorgz on August 04, 2013, 10:51 am
Subbing, if you don't mind. ;D
Title: Re: UK - DRUG Laws and Police procedure
Post by: PlutoPete on August 04, 2013, 10:58 am
My experience of UK drugs laws are pretty extensive, and a couple of simple rules can make a world of difference to the outcome.
Rule number one is obvious, ADMIT NOTHING! you'd be amazed at how many cases would fall apart if people just kept their mouths shut. I've seen cases where the police have had enough evidence to crucify someone but simple errors on their part and no comment from the arrested person has resulted in charges being reduced or thrown out altogether.
Rule number two is DON'T USE A DUTY SOLICITOR!  it's often the only option an arrested person has when they're busted but it's nearly always a bad move. If you don't know an experienced drug solicitor it's a good idea to carry the number of the Release Helpline - 0845 4500 215 they will give you a list of decent solicitors in your area. If you have to use the Duty Solicitor then just use him to contact Release for you and get you the list of "approved" solicitors. Duty Solicitors spend a lot of time at the Police Station and they are very often good friends with the custody officer etc, this relationship rarely benefits the accused.

I've seen cases where evidence numbers have been mixed up more than once, in one case the accused had admitted his guilt thinking he was caught red handed so he went to jail but in the other case the accused had kept silent and they had to drop all the charges.
I've also seen a clever solicitor talk down a case where a poor Hippy had been caught with a recently harvested crop. He pointed out that the definition of Herbal Cannabis in the Misuse of Drugs Act is "The flowering tops and fruiting bodies" of the cannabis plant, he succesfully argued that this doesn't include stems, leaf and seeds and because a handful of plants were still hanging he also claimed the original weight captured was "wet weight" and the dry weight would be just 15% of that, in this case the evidence had already been forensically identified and videoed etc and then destroyed after an earlier hearing, so the prosecution couldn't produce it in court to refute the details and the poor hippy walked out of court with a fine :)

So shut up, get a good brief and sit back and let the police and prosecution make their mistakes :)
Title: Re: UK - DRUG Laws and Police procedure
Post by: trava on August 05, 2013, 08:12 pm
My experience of UK drugs laws are pretty extensive, and a couple of simple rules can make a world of difference to the outcome.
Rule number one is obvious, ADMIT NOTHING! you'd be amazed at how many cases would fall apart if people just kept their mouths shut. I've seen cases where the police have had enough evidence to crucify someone but simple errors on their part and no comment from the arrested person has resulted in charges being reduced or thrown out altogether.
Rule number two is DON'T USE A DUTY SOLICITOR!  it's often the only option an arrested person has when they're busted but it's nearly always a bad move. If you don't know an experienced drug solicitor it's a good idea to carry the number of the Release Helpline - 0845 4500 215 they will give you a list of decent solicitors in your area. If you have to use the Duty Solicitor then just use him to contact Release for you and get you the list of "approved" solicitors. Duty Solicitors spend a lot of time at the Police Station and they are very often good friends with the custody officer etc, this relationship rarely benefits the accused.

I've seen cases where evidence numbers have been mixed up more than once, in one case the accused had admitted his guilt thinking he was caught red handed so he went to jail but in the other case the accused had kept silent and they had to drop all the charges.
I've also seen a clever solicitor talk down a case where a poor Hippy had been caught with a recently harvested crop. He pointed out that the definition of Herbal Cannabis in the Misuse of Drugs Act is "The flowering tops and fruiting bodies" of the cannabis plant, he succesfully argued that this doesn't include stems, leaf and seeds and because a handful of plants were still hanging he also claimed the original weight captured was "wet weight" and the dry weight would be just 15% of that, in this case the evidence had already been forensically identified and videoed etc and then destroyed after an earlier hearing, so the prosecution couldn't produce it in court to refute the details and the poor hippy walked out of court with a fine :)

So shut up, get a good brief and sit back and let the police and prosecution make their mistakes :)

dead on mate dead on, iv seen living proof of this, a guy never talked even though all the evidence was against him, caught red handed but cause he said NO COMMENT during the detective interview couple of court hearings down the line, the persecution time run out and the court couldn't find him guilty

also remember the police is constantly swamped with cases so the longer you drag it out the less likely you are to be persecuted also consider the fact that the police budget is being cut back and they really have to prioritise their cases


Title: Re: UK - DRUG Laws and Police procedure
Post by: Raoul Duke on August 06, 2013, 01:01 pm
rubbing and SUBBING, eating fried chicken on your duvet. (UB40 - Johnny Too Bad, the alternative/better lyrics :P )

in all seriousness i could have just wrote subbing, but you get the picture ;)
Title: Re: UK - DRUG Laws and Police procedure
Post by: psykhe on August 09, 2013, 11:42 am
If you don't know an experienced drug solicitor it's a good idea to carry the number of the Release Helpline - 0845 4500 215 they will give you a list of decent solicitors in your area.

I love you a little bit for teaching me that Release exists :) definitely something to remember, no matter how unlikely the "just in case" scenario may be. If I could, I'd +1 you so hard ;)
Title: Re: UK - DRUG Laws and Police procedure
Post by: Rocknessie on August 09, 2013, 12:17 pm
+1 to keeping your mouth closed. So, so many cases only happen because people confess. Fuck that.

However, it's worth noting even  normal interrogation is hugely overwhelming. The IRA paramilitary training is to not look at your interrogators, to find a fixed point on a wall behind them, and to stare at it and to concentrate staring at it.

Do NOT get involved in banter or conversation. They are MUCH more experienced than you.

Title: Re: UK - DRUG Laws and Police procedure
Post by: JohnTheBaptist on August 11, 2013, 04:56 am
Go to go along with that O,P. Always not guilty, no exeptions, a case can fuck up a lot of ways, what makes me chuckle is the " no comment guv" you don't even say that. Just keep your grid shut from start to finish. They can even gauge your guilt or innocence by your voice, Psychoanalysis, so saying "no comment " can get you convicted. Keep it zipped.
Title: Re: UK - DRUG Laws and Police procedure
Post by: boy of joy on August 11, 2013, 11:15 am
Where do i stand,

Being brief i was charged over 18 months ago for importation of class b, wasnt a controlled delivery, just a warrent and goods siezed, no comment interview, electronics were clean with no connection to charge.

Is there time limits, when do i hear about my case, my foaf laywer says it will have fallen through the system after 12 months, but shouldnt you get notified of this?

What about my good siezed is that lost in the system also?

If more inforation is required i can pm, but obviously im being as tight as i can with any information i will reveal.


typos fixed
Title: Re: UK - DRUG Laws and Police procedure
Post by: PlutoPete on August 11, 2013, 01:24 pm
Where do i stand,

Being brief i was charged over 18 months ago for importation of class b, wasnt a controlled delivery, just a warrent and goods siezed, no comment interview, electronics were clean with no connection to charge.

Is there time limits, when do i hear about my case, my foaf laywer says it will have fallen through the system after 12 months, but shouldnt you get notified of this?

What about my good siezed is that lost in the system also?

If more inforation is required i can pm, but obviously im being as tight as i can with any information i will reveal.


typos fixed
Where you actually charged, or were you just arrested for suspicion of importing class B? if charged you will have been bailed for a certain length of time. Before that time is up the police should either give you a trial date or extend your bail. It doesn't sound like any of this has happened with you so i suspect you were arrested on suspicion of importing a controlled substance but they didn't carry it through to prosecution.
Title: Re: UK - DRUG Laws and Police procedure
Post by: boy of joy on August 11, 2013, 02:53 pm
I find it all scary and confusing, pretty certain i was charged tho.

Brief summary of what happened; they turned up with a search warrent which i still have a copy of, and i spend the day in the cell as they searched my abode, they then interviewed me, brought out the package in question (smelt fantastic), later during interview i signed a sheet of paper with the misc evidence described/bagged they had gathered from my property and at the end of the interview they formally read out a charge sheet something like "we charge  mr/mrs bla that on  a certain date for importation of a controlled bla from bla bla" - from what i remember. I have no copies of anything they gave me when i left the cells i was so screwed up i managed to loose the paperwork in the wash.

I do remember being told by one of them that it will take a long time before you hear anything, but from previous scrapes usually month 11 you get the letter with a court date for a few weeks later, this is my experience from the couple of previous times ive been in trouble in the past with minor offences.

I dont want to say any more publically, but happy to discuss a little further by pm PlutoPete if you think you can maybe help, thanks for your time