Private prosecution anyone?

[ParticleLizzicist]

Due to being horrendously let down by the police on several matters, I am considering private prosecutions against three people. There is no point me reporting them to the police - they are simply not interested and will continue to gaslight me.

Malicious Communications and perverting the course of justice are the “offences” I am looking at. Does anyone have any experience of private prosecution and can tell me what to look for in a solicitor?

Successful private prosecutions by individuals are vanishingly rare (unlike prosecutors by Trading Standards, RSPCA, etc which are also technically "private" in that the police and crown prosecution service aren't involved.)

If you haven't seen it this may be helpful https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-prosecutions/private-prosecutions#:~:text=Any%20adult%20has%20the%20right,whether%20this%20is%20the%20case.

In terms of a solicitor, Google Law Society Find a Solicitor and you can search against both geographical area (eg your town or postcode)and specialism (criminal law.)

You are however likely to find it difficult to find a solicitor willing to accept instructions without a substantial payment on account (ie money upfront.)

Even if you do succeed in starting proceedings in the magistrates court, the CPS can take over and either conduct the case or discontinue it, so do review whether the lack of action regarding your complaints is due to the CPS having decided that there is a lack of prospect of conviction and/or prosecution not being in the public interest (if matters got as far as the CPS.)

It may be more fruitful to request a review of police decision making and/or to complain formally if you consider that you have received poor service from the police. It would certainly be cheaper. However you decide to proceed I hope you manage to resolve matters.

@JennyMule thank you so much. Incredibly helpful. I hadn’t realised the success rate (or not!).

It’s definitely the police and not the CPS but nevertheless, a useful point to note.

I wonder if I could engage a solicitor to help me make a complaint to the police about the mal comms etc? I just have no trust in them at all.

There are plenty of solicitors who specialise in complaints against the police so that is something that you could explore but of course likely to be at your own expense given the limited availability of legal aid.

Theoretically the complaints system is accessible to people acting on their own behalf so as you are an articulate and motivated person you may find that you can manage to pursue a complaint without any representation.

As with any complaint to a large organisation, the best place to start is by writing a chronological account of what has happened, then identitlfy what should have happened and what - from your perspective - went wrong, making clear how this is -in your view - attributable to failings by specific individuals or organisational deficits.

As I'm sure you appreciate, things not working out as we hope/expect don't make good grounds for a successful complaint outcome. It's showing that this happened, on the balance of probabilities, because of individual or organisational failings, and as a consequence we suffered detriment, that leads to a successful outcome. That said "successful outcome" may just be an apology from the organisation.

If you do want to talk it through and can't afford legal fees then it might be worth trying your local law centre or citizens advice bureau (but if they're anything like where I live the chances of getting an appointment are slim as services are stretched to breaking point.) If you have a university near you they may have a law clinic staffed by students (supervised by qualified people though!)

Very grateful for your detailed advice. Thank you for taking the time and effort.