(39) Code B of The Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

Executing a search warrant on somebody’s address, particularly their home address is an extremely serious matter and this cannot be overstated..

Very strict rules are in place for obtaining warrants from courts and these are set out in Code B of The Police and Criminal Evidence Act. (PACE)

Please bear with me while I highlight the relevant parts in respect to the warrants served on our property and vehicles.

1.3 The right to privacy and respect for personal property are key principles of the Human Rights Act 1998. Powers of entry, search and seizure should be fully and clearly justified before use because they may significantly interfere with the occupier’s privacy. Officers should consider if the necessary objectives can be met by less intrusive means.

(In respect of that last line, I will remind you, and hope you can see that, not only was I fully cooperating with the investigations, I had asked Superintendent THOMAS and DI TAYLOR to investigate what had happened. (It was, as you recall, DI TAYLOR who refused to investigate it after I asked him to on 5th December). Surely, no one could say that I wasn’t or wouldn’t cooperate)!

1.5 If the provisions of PACE and this Code are not observed, evidence obtained from a search may be open to question.

3 Search warrants and production orders. (a) Before making an application. 3.1 When information appears to justify an application, the officer must take reasonable steps to check the information is accurate, recent and not provided maliciously or irresponsibly. An application may not be made on the basis of information from an anonymous source if corroboration has not been sought

So the information they had about me was ‘accurate, recent and not provided maliciously or irresponsibly. 👍

The Warrant had been applied for by Detective Inspector 3160 Justin TAYLOR. He would have checked to make sure all of the conditions were met…………wouldn’t he? By their very nature, Detective Inspectors are involved in dealing with and running the most serious of criminal cases and wouldn’t dare get this wrong……..would they?

3A The identity of an informant need not be disclosed when making an application, but the officer should be prepared to answer any questions the magistrate or judge may have about; The accuracy of previous information from that source, and. any other related matters.

And …………just in case anyone wasn’t quite sure about what was required of them to apply for a warrant, http://www.justice.gov.uk made sure there was a proper application form with questions to answer. There is even a guide at the back of the application, to help you answer those questions…………

That’s fairly straight forward and easy to understand isn’t it. I’m sure DI TAYLOR, being an experienced Detective, filled the form in meticulously…………didn’t he? We’ll see a bit later!

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