The importance of pre-charge engagement
If you’ve had a police interview under caution, you may be asked to engage with the police, or with prosecution solicitors afterwards on a voluntary basis.
This is process known as ‘pre-charge engagement’. It’s a stage of investigation before you’re charged with a crime, but while you’re under suspicion of committing one.
The process is voluntary and collaborative. Teams for the prosecutors and the defence must agree to participate in pre-trial engagement, and you should have a solicitor on your side by this time to help you through the process.
The police and defence use the pre-charge engagement stage to decide if charges should be made against you.
What you might be asked to do
During this stage, you’re likely to be asked to provide additional information and documents as evidence about the case.
You might have to provide access to your phone records, emails, WhatsApps, and social media. In some cases, you can be asked to give consent to access medical records, if that’s relevant to the charges.
You also have the opportunity to give details of potential witnesses who can corroborate your version of events.
How to engage well
If you’re asked to participate in pre-charge engagement, see it as a good thing. It’s your opportunity to deal with the charges quickly and efficiently, avoiding trial, and potentially receiving a more lenient punishment.
If you deny the allegations against you, then pre-charge engagement is a chance for you to show the police the evidence that supports your case. You can do this at an early stage so that you don’t have long drawn-out court proceedings. With good evidence, you can void being charged for the offence. Remember that if you’re charged for an offence it can impact your DBS record.
Your solicitor will be work with you to find lines of enquiry to help your case. That could be an alibi, or finding flaws in the evidence at the police and prosecution have gathered.
If you are guilty, pre-charge engagement is still useful. Your solicitor can request an alternative penalty, like a caution, or community resolution. If you engage early, then it’s a more effective use of police and prosecutor time than having to go to court.
What happens if you don’t engage?
If you don’t participate in pre-charge engagement, then your case is more likely to go to court. You may be involved in more prolonged investigations, which can become expensive, and will be quite stressful.
Outcomes of pre-charge engagement
After pre-charge engagement, the police and prosecutors make a decision. They will either:
- Proceed with the charges against you
- Close the case with no further action
- Offer alternative to charging, which may be a caution, or a community order.
How we can help
You won’t be charged for an offence if we can persuade the police and prosecution that there is no realistic prospect of conviction. To do this, we can gather the evidence that supports your version of events. That might be documents, such as text messages or WhatsApps, or it could be other witnesses.
We will look at all the lines of enquiry and prepare your defence. We can interact with the police and prosecution for you to help them understand your alternative explanations, and suggest more lenient penalties. If you need any support to defend a criminal allegation against you, please get in touch with our experienced criminal defence solicitors: info@harewoodlaw.com or 0333 344 8377.
