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 ?

No. Really that kind of comment is not a hate crime unless you added ‘im going to beat up those noisy neighbours’

A voluntary interview is the exact same procedure as an interview under arrest. It just means that you go in of your own accord at a mutually agreed timeand don’t need to be arrested and placed in a cell. You can have a solicitor present in the same way as when under arrest. All your rights remain in place.

The police will provide disclosure to your solicitor before the interview, i.e. give them the details of the allegation and may also choose to share what evidence they have. This will allow your solicitor to advise you in the best course of action to take, e.g. full admission, no comment or denial account.

If you decline to cooperate and the police arrest you, you have no control over when and where this takes place. It also gives police officers a power of search, which means they could choose to take your electronic devices (phones, computers, laptops etc.) for examination if deemed relevant.

If you have committed an offence and you admit it, depending on your criminal record thus far you may be eligible for a caution. If you don’t admit it and the evidence is sufficient then you will be charged to appear in court.

Not read the full thread so don’t know if anyone else has covered this, but this sounds like an interview under caution. If so, it’s not voluntary and when you arrive you are effectively under arrest. Do not, under any circumstances attend without legal representation. You’re not a witness, you’re a suspect and you need legal representation when you answer questions.

Colindale is part of the Met.

Unless you post /send malicious communications as a norm, surely you can say with certainty that you didn't

You would be surprised what can be classed as ‘hate speech’. It is entirely subjective.

Have a look at the Black belt Barrister on YouTube. He covers what to do in situations such as this. There is lots of useful, accurate legal advice on his channel, rather than relying on opinions from unqualified people, however well meaning. I'm pretty sure your situation has videos from him. Good luck.

OP if you already have a solicitor why don’t you simply ask them rather than a bunch of unqualified ransoms on the internet?

If I didn't know what it was about and therefore didn't know whether or not I could have committed an offence I would do this.

1. Not attend a voluntary interview
2. Let them arrest me and ask for a solicitor to be present
3. Make no comment and hear what the accusation was about
4. Once I had the information regarding the alleged incident I would talk to my solicitor re next steps.

They can only hold you for a short time and if they have no evidence they will drop the matter.

Basically say nothing, do nothing and let them prove it all.

I used to be a criminal solicitor and my firm covered Colindale. I'm no longer practising or in London, but I can recommend a couple of excellent ex-colleagues who still work for the same firm. It's one of the bigger criminal departments in London. Message me if you'd like a couple of names. These are the people I would call if I was ever accused of something.

I should have said, with a voluntary interview, it speeds things up if you arrange a solicitor in advance rather than asking for the duty solicitor on the day. Don't let anyone tell you not to use the duty solicitor though - almost all local solicitors are on the duty rota. They're not some sub-species as some people seem to think - in fact if someone isn't duty qualified, I'd wonder why!

Its really not and its a worry that people on here think it is.

A person of interest is ultimately someone the police think might have been involved in a crime, but who has not (yet) been arrested.

You can refuse to attend the voluntary interview, but truly I don’t know why you would. The most likely outcome from refusing to attend the voluntary one, is that the police then decide it to be “necessary and proportionate” to arrest you to interview you. They are extremely unlikely to just go away, and if you’ve done nothing wrong and this is just malicious lies from whoever, there’s no harm in getting yourself a solicitor and going to the interview.

You do know that 'deleted' files aren't always actually deleted? And can be retrieved?

Are there any differences in 'person of interest' and 'suspect' on a letter from the police? Or do they mean the same thing? Is person of interest someone they have less evidence on?

I find this post and some of your others on this thread offensive!

I cannot understand why anyone would actively choose to get arrested.

DO NOT DO THIS. If you get the choice to attend voluntarily, please do so.

Being arrested is fucking shit, humiliating, degrading, you are at the whim of a custody Sgt who is on a power trip, expects you to disclose your medical history when they have no medical training at all, they can confiscate your spectacles, wedding ring, and hair bands, just because they decide to. Don’t give these idiots any more power than you absolutely have to.

This is simply not true.

🙄🙄

Go to the voluntary interview or you will be arrested. Take a solicitor with you. They will be given disclosure of some information by the officer interviewing and then you can decide with your solicitor what you need to do in interview before you go in.

If you are arrested you can be held for 24 hours and then for court the next day. If you go voluntarily it will likely take an hour or two.

Thinking to the cases that have been in the media, have you ever been (knowingly or otherwise) part of a group chat on any messaging platform? All it would take would be for one person in a large group to either fall out with someone (and report it) or be arrested themselves for something entirely unrelated, have their phone seized and then the police have a large number of people who are passive participants in malicious communication. Which is also a criminal offence.

Blimey. That's a bit of a drip feed.

Yes, go, and ask for a duty solicitor to be present throughout.

This. Everything leaves a ghost of a trace somewhere.

Thabkyou, appreciated. I've always wondered what to do if this happened to me.

This is the worst advice I have ever seen.

You can be held for 24 hours without charge. I wouldn't call that a short time.