Son (15) is possibly being charged under public order act

[littlemissangrypants]

I have just received a call today from a police woman informing me that my son had followed a girl home and had said inappropriate things to her. The girl is very distressed and if the parents chose to my son could be charged under public order act.
My son says he has never followed the girl and on the day she was followed he was at an after school club. I know every mother says this but my son is a good kid. (No problems before excpet for not tidying his room and not appreciating what he has.) He is doing well at school and honestly a good kid. I have no idea how he could have follwed the girl home if he was at after school club.
The police officer stated clearly that my son has done this. It seems like he is guilty without any evidence and without us having any chance of defending him.
My son is very upset about this and has cried which is not like him. I have no idea what to do so any advice would be apreciated.

[Kim82]

Could you get the school to confirm whether or not he was at the after school club?

[MinceSpy]

Don't accept a warning as this will create a record. If he is charged he nerds to plead not guilty and he needs to prove he was at the after school club which shouldn't be too difficult

[CantBeBotheredThinking]

It may not be as easy as people think to prove he was at after school club. Ours does a homework club but no register is taken so no way would they be able to prove that someone was there at a set time. I would request speaking to a solicitor and seeing if you can put in a request for CCTV evidence of your son following the girl, that should prove that the person following was not your son.

[littlemissangrypants]

Thank you for the advice. I will be able to get confirmation not only from the teacher of after school club but from several people that where there.
I am just so worried that no investigation is being done and he is being treated like he is guilty. Everyone who knows my son has said that it doesnt sound like him. He has his faults like all kids but he is very careful around girls.

[defineme]

Can you go to after school club now to ask? Can you call others who were there?

[sanfairyanne]

are you sure it was the police who phoned?
is he being bullied, possibly by this girl?

[littlemissangrypants]

We live in a small town so cctv is going to be tricky I think. School should have something though. Both my sons catch a bus home so if school have cctv it would only show them getting on the same bus. Once in our town there is no cctv at the bus stop and its a short walk home from there.
My youngest son has talked to other people who were at the same club. It all adds up and with timings so I ave no idea how my eldest son had the time to do anything.
School is shut now for the holidays which adds to the difficulty. My plan of attack for the meeting with police on monday is to point them in the direction of the after school club teacher and the other kids at the club. We wont accept caution or other. I'm just hoping that it ends there.

[AcrossthePond55]

Talk to a solicitor, before the interview. If you can't, can you go and ask that it be postponed until you have sought legal advice? Is there any way to get in touch with the school Head or someone who was supervising the club to get a statement before the meeting? Can you get statements from DS's friends or others who saw him at the club?

I'll admit I tend to be somewhat suspicious of the police. Oftentimes they make up their minds and then try to make the facts fit their picture. My DS2 and his mate were in a situation where they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and the police kept trying to get DS2 to incriminate his mate. Mate was a good kid, but from a family constantly in trouble with the law so they figured it 'must' be him!

Be very careful of what you say if you don't have representation. I'd just keep saying 'DS wasn't there, he was at Afterschool Club'.

[Thedragonsinthebedroom]

Whatever you do, do not speak to the police without a solicitor present. I was in the unfortunate situation of being arrested for something I hadn't done. It was horrendous but what made the whole experience worse was how the police treated me. They were doing things like discouraging me from getting a solicitor and trying to ask me questions relevant to the investigation dressed up as small talk. It all felt so surreal! Please make sure your son has a solicitor with him. If he was arrested he would be able to get a duty solicitor but not sure how it works if he is going in for voluntary questioning. Although it is worrying, remember it is up to them to prove a crime has been committed, not for your son to prove his innocence. The solcitor may advise a prepared statement over answering questions.

I'm not a pro at this, this is all just from my own, very recent experience of the legal system and what I have learnt from lots of googling! Good luck.

[xxnamechangedforthis]

May I ask what exactly what was said? Depending on that the possible offences can be wildly different, as can the penalties. A similar thing once happened to a friend of mine and even though said friend was proven innocent eventually they still received a stern talking to from the officers who conducted the interview.

[xxnamechangedforthis]

Also, do you have any info about exactly when the incident took place?
If he was in a club at the time of the incident then evidently it did not take place, however if the incident took place after the club...