Case Analysis Enid And Ruth Were Caught Causing Criminal...

1a) The facts demonstrate that Enid and Ruth were caught causing criminal damage to allotment buildings by Sinead and Amijt. Criminal damage is an indictable offence triable either way. An assessment will be made using specific sections of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 as to whether the arrests of Enid and Ruth were lawful. The arrest of Ruth will initially be addressed. Amijt arrested Ruth with the power provided by section 24A Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) as amended by s110Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2004 (SOCPA). Specifically, s24A(1)(a) PACE 1984 provides that a person other than a constable may arrest without a warrant ‘anyone who is in the act of committing an indictable offence’. In this†¦show more content†¦In this instance as there was no police constable present, Amijt had to make the arrest to prevent Ruth from making off before a constable could arrive. Under s24A(4) PACE 1984 the first necessity factor which can be applied to the arrest can be found in s24A(4)(c) PACE 1984, which states the arrest can be necessary in order to prevent the person in question ‘causing loss or damage to property’. In this instance it was necessary for Amijt to arrest Ruth to prevent her causing any further damage to the property. An additional necess ity factor to apply to the arrest can be found s24A(4)(d) PACE 1984. This section refers to preventing the perpetrator ‘making off before a constable could arrive’. It was necessary for Amijt to prevent Ruth from making off before a constable could arrive. Enid had managed to make off before any action could be taken to make an arrest. It appears based on the facts presented that Ruth’s arrest was lawful, Amijt was granted the power of arrest by s24A(1)(a) PACE 1984. Furthermore, both of the necessity criteria for an arrest in s24A(3)(a) and s24A(3)(b) PACE 1984 were satisfied. There were sufficient necessity factors as stated in s24A(4) PACE 1984 which applied to the facts. The necessity factors included s24A(4)(c) and s34A(4)(d) PACE 1984. The arrest of Enid will be addressed next. PC Swift was granted the power of arrest under s24 PACE 1984 as amended by s110(1) Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2004