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What to include and not include in a statement to police?

(6 posts)
  • Started 9 months ago by DuddingstonDomestique
  • Latest reply from DuddingstonDomestique

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  1. DuddingstonDomestique
    Member

    Hello all,

    Following an incident of bad driving and having rung 101, police will be coming round on Monday to view the video evidence and I assume take a statement. Not having gone through this before I have a few specific questions. I daresay there is quite a good collective wisdom on these pages relating to this. I have had a hunt about here but not found specific answers.

    Will the police accept a statement I have pre-written and signed before their visit? It is better to write out an account as soon as possible after the event so details are not forgotten but I don't know if police need to hear you verbalise it to them and they take it down. I guess I could always read out the pre-written account.

    Pro-forma police statement forms posted on these forums imply you should only write what you saw and facts relating to the event. My incident occurred very quickly (driver in oncoming carriageway pulled across my carriageway forcing me to swerve to avoid a collision). Due to the very short duration of the incident and having to take evasive action, I did not mentally note the make model nor car registration but the camera did. All I saw was the colour of the car but did get a fleeting view of the driver. Can I, therefore, include information in the statement that I have observed from the video: reg/make model? It seems a bit limiting to only include what I saw and remembered rather than other information that can be deduced from other sources. Guidance suggests the video evidence is corroboration of the witness statement rather than the main evidential source. However the video is much better at recording and "remembering" details.

    Other possibly useful information that I can deduce/calculate are my speed (from the video), the position of the sun in the sky and width of the road from revisiting the actual scene of the incident. I believe the sun angle is relevant as the sun was low in the sky and shining directly towards the driver.

    Is it advisable to include information in the police statement that I have deduced after the event? Clearly it is better that the witness statement and video "align" as close as possible. However can you include material in the statement that you have obtained from the video and other sources? Just looking to present the strongest evidential case.

    Posted 9 months ago #

  2. neddie
    Member

    When I was asked to give a statement, the police said it was perfectly fine to give them a description of the culprit based on the photo I’d taken of him. So I literally looked at the picture and described the person. I’m sure you could do the same for video evidence.

    On giving the statement, I think the police will want to take an account of what happened in their own terms i.e by asking you questions on the sequence of events. So I’m not sure a pre-prepared statement is what they want, but that’s not to say they wouldn’t accept one.

    Posted 9 months ago #

  3. neddie
    Member

    I wouldn’t mention anything about the sun. The driver will just use that as a get-out and it will weaken your case. It’s well known that drivers get away with murder using the “sun in eyes” excuse. Don’t give extra detail that isn’t going to help you, unless the police specifically ask for it. Even then you can just say “don’t know/remember”

    Posted 9 months ago #

  4. magnatom
    Member

    Just some thoughts having done this quite a bit in the past... unfortunately!
    I've never actually prepared something written before. You certainly could do, and it may help, but if you get a decent officer (not always guaranteed) they should help with the wording, as the way it's worded is important for potential court proceedings. I'd suggest your best option would be to write something out to guide what you say to them and accept that they might suggest better ways of wording it.

    It's not unusual for me to notice details later on the video that I didn't notice at the time. Be honest about this. In the statement you can say that, 'on reviewing the footage you noticed ..'.
    You mention corroboration, actually more recently a Sheriff can prosecute on footage alone. There are two requirements (as I understand it...and I'm not a lawyer!). The Sheriff has to see a crime was committed and needs to be able to identify the person committing the crime. They can't identify the person from your footage by the sounds of it, but that should be delt with by the police requesting their owner identify the driver at the time. Any footage that helps identify the driver helps. If you have screenshots from your footage that will help, show the police.
    I've tried to include information that I've calculated like speed distance etc in the past. Police have never really used that as far as I'm aware. Show it to them, but they might not want it. I suspect if that was to be used in court you'd need to be classed as an expert witness and that opens up a whole can of legal worms! (I could be wrong!)
    Otherwise good luck. Let us know how you get on.

    Posted 9 months ago #

  5. DuddingstonDomestique
    Member

    Thank you very much to all who gave there advice on this matter. It is very helpful.

    It seems absurd that being unsighted/blinded by the sun is a defence in carrying out a potentially dangerous manoeuvre rather than an aggravating factor for the prosecution

    I have pulled out the best frames that could possibly be used to identify the driver.

    I had found the suggested template below for statements. It was, I believe, written by a police officer:
    https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/statement-template.53277/

    I will let people know how it goes. Given posters' here and elsewhere experience in reporting much more serious incidents to Police Scotland and not having the response one would expect, I am not too hopeful it will be taken further. However I did think it was important to report it.

    Posted 9 months ago #

  6. DuddingstonDomestique
    Member

    Apologies for not following upon this as promised; pressures of work intervened.

    Two police officers came and took a statement. I showed them the footage from my handlebar camera namely the driver turning right across and into my carriageway requiring me to swerve to avoid a collision. The driver had not stopped to look and check before making the manoeuvre. They did stop after I had swerved.

    Initially police officers mentioned two options: sending the driver a warning letter or charging them and having a court appearance. They said that with the latter option it would take a year before it came to court (I don't know how accurate this is).

    They quoted from the 1988 Traffic Act and that although a breach of road traffic law may be apparent and obvious the law required it to be below the standards of a competent driver. They concluded that they would not charge the driver and would send a warning letter. One of the officers mentioned that the incident was within normal interactions on the road. I did point out that the Highway Code advises drivers to wait until there is a safe gap and watch out for oncoming road users and that the driver crossed into a live traffic lane without looking.

    I got the distinct impression that unless there had been a collision then they were not interested in anything other than sending a letter. There seems to me quite a gap in standards between not following the Highway Code and behaviour that would lead a road user being charged with an offence.

    Posted 6 months ago #

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