Legalities around Police questioning minors

[badday1979]

When my daughter (13) came home today she told me she’d been questioned by the police while at school.

It was about an incident which happened on a Saturday in our local town where a girl was beaten up by an older girl.

The police said my daughter was seen in a video of the incident laughing and that they would let her know if she was going to be charged.

My question is - was it lawful for the police to question my daughter without my knowledge or consent?

I would like to know this before speaking to the school and the police.

Obviously I will be getting to the bottom of what happened but I want to know the legalities around the procedures before speaking to anyone.

Thanks.

I think you need to speak to the school or the police to find out what actually happened. It would be very unusual for someone to be told there was a possibility of charges without a recorded interview which would usually happen at a police station. If all she did is laugh at someone getting beaten up, while that is a horrible thing to do, I can't see a criminal offence there, and even if there was, there are a lot of out of court disposals that would usually be considered first for any children. I suspect what you have been told is not accurate.

I would also be livid if my dd laughed or encouraged someone being abused/beaten up. However I would want to see the video to see exactly what was happening, was she actually laughing?

Whilst it's legal this is why I have told me children to not engage with the ppl w and answer their questions unless one of their parents are there with. Solicitor. I don't trust the police at all these days. Neither do I trust schools to safeguard properly.