Just been accused of being a person of interest in a malicious communications offence that happened years ago

[justbeenaccused]

I received a letter from the police summoning me to the station of a voluntary interview. I am a person of interest in a malicious comms case that occured in 2019.

Does this mean I am a suspect, or a witness etc.?
How can I find out who reported me ?

it might help to think of it as the same thing. They are arresting you, as you are essentially under arrest once you attend for interview - just without use of the extra resources needed to publicly arrest you if the offence doesn’t warrant you being urgently taken into custody. Either way the procedure is the same - you would be cautioned and then questioned - with or without counsel as is your choice, and you would find out what evidence they had against you.

I know you think you know what you’re talking about. But you don’t.

Tell me, how would you find a message I had sent, and prove beyond reasonable doubt that I sent it, if you didn’t have it on my phone/laptop/tablet/computer.

You can use diagrams to make your answer clearer.

Screenshots sent by a “complainant” aren’t admissible btw.

Why arent screenshots enough evidence?

Your credential is "I was arrested and got lucky the person in charge of looking at my phone was incompetent/couldn't be bothered to do their job properly".

You can't blame people for not taking you for the expert you think you are when you spread information that is just false.

When you delete a message, it doesn't delete the trace of it being sent through your provider, nor does it delete the message received, which also contains information linking your phone to it

You got lucky. But you should certainly not t tell people to do the same stupid thing you did. Lest they don't get lucky and pay the consequences of their actions...

This is unfortunately all too common for GC women.

I'm sure it will already have been said but...

DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, ATTEND A VOLUNTARY INTERVIEW WITHOUT LEGAL REPRESENTATION

Find a Solicitor who is familiar with this law. The Free Speech Union may be able to help you.

What usually happens (according to the women who have found themselves where you are), the police will question you wrt to the alleged crime, you answer no comment; if you have any knowledge of the evidence for the crime beforehand your legal representative can read a prepared statement.

Do not volunteer any information, a voluntary interview is a fishing expedition. They would not need "your side of the story" if they had concrete evidence you had committed a crime. You get to present your side of the story as your defence in court of it comes to that.

Usually, because these reports are malicious, you will be released without charge or they may decide to investigate further.

Never forget the process is the punishment.

You didn’t answer my question?

I did

There are dozens of ways to fabricate a screenshot. How do you prove who took it and where? That it’s not fake? That it has been provided in context?
there are even apps specifically designed to create fake screenshots.

Oh give over, they're not mystic meg.

Trained experts in body language my arse. It takes years to actually become an expert.

OP you might want to post this on the feminist board, I'm sure you will get better advice. We've been watching this shit go down for years.

But feel free to google "can the police trace a message I deleted" and educate yourself then stop giving terrible, terrible advice....

Have you heard of WhatsApp? Or instagram? Or signal? Where are the traces kept of these messages being sent?

Tell me what records are kept of the content of emails which have been deleted?

Tell me how you can prove that something recovered from a recipients phone, hasn’t been edited in any way. I’m fascinated to know…

It's just a normal police officer who happens to be dealing with the case, not some interrogation expert.

Precisely, it’s cheaper and easier for them to have you attend for interview (as well as being better for you as no stress of being arrested publicly, potentially at work), than it is for them to send a police car and officers to arrest you when it’s not urgent.

Also re. those saying “no comment”, you do have the right to do that, but remember if you do not mention when questioned something that you later want to rely on in court, that harms your defence. If you’ve done nothing wrong, take a legal representative and tell the truth, simple as that.

Go with a solicitor and say 'no comment' to every question you are asked because its a fishing expedition, not an interview after being arrested.Do not admit anything, do not accept a caution. https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/advice_information/what-is-a-police-caution

"Have you heard of WhatsApp? Or instagram? Or signal? Where are the traces kept of these messages being sent?"

So there is no need to delete everything on your phone if you use those? I am failing to see your point? That doesn't mean your deleted emails, calls logs and message can't be retrieved.

what is the difference between the 2?

No. No. No. No.

Go with a solicitor then follow their advice. They will tell ypu what to answer, what to accept or what to do.

You people are giving advice having no idea what OP is being summoned for. I have no idea why you have decided that it is Gender related. You are massively projecting and might get someone in trouble.

Potentially very bad advice re. No comment.

As a solicitor will tell you, if you are innocent but the police have some “evidence” to potentially charge you with a crime, which they may well have for you to be a person of interest, it is almost always going to be better to answer questions truthfully, this ensures it is on record that you have tried to co operate with the police and their investigation throughout the investigation. You’ve arrived voluntarily, answered any questions asked of you, you’ve done what you can.

Consult proper legal representation, take them with you and follow their advice as they will have in depth specific knowledge of your situation as none of us do, they will direct you best.

I was asked to attend a voluntary interview for mal comms. I had a solicitor i was told to say nothing. Not even no comment. It never went anywhere.

Tell the solicitor this. As a pp said, duty solicitor ( free) you discuss a written statement he/she reads out. The solicitor should advise you on what to say/ not say/ whether no comment is appropriate.

Oh God.

OP, get proper real life legal advice from someone you know to be a solicitor. Contact Citizens Advice if you need help with that. Don't rely on Username47758644 on Mumsnet for something this serious. There will be some real solicitors on here who know what they're talking about, but you've no way of knowing who they are, and there'll be at least as many fantasists and idiots.

To give you some idea, last week there was someone on here claiming to be a lawyer who told an OP that she might be committing an offence by having a boudoir photo of herself in her bedroom. I'm absolutely not making this up. People use this place as an outlet for fantasies.

Get real life legal advice and representation from a real life solicitor.

Scam!

Maybe they want to interview you then arrest you, maybe not because their evidence is not solid enough. Lawyer up.

So did they change it after you signed it or did you sign it and not check it? Was no one prosecuted because of your statement being incorrect?

They’re asking the OP for an interview, not a witness statement and just because your statement was ‘changed’ doesn’t mean that no one should ever speak to the police.