Im writing a novel, and for part of it a criminal is arrested…

1 Test Purchase Officer case.

2 A person cannot be charged unless there is evidence on all counts of the offence. Nobody can be charged with a drugs offence unless it can be proven that the drugs are prohibited. Unless a person is charged nobody can be remanded. A person can be held by the police usually for up to 24 hours without charge or release. They can get extensions in some circumstances but the most they can get is 96 hours and they have to justify the extensions. They are not normal. Usually the 24 hour PACE clock is sufficient.

3 They would if they didn't have the results back.

4 That depends on the back. Sometimes drugs can take many months to analyse. Usually though TPO cases are much bigger enterprises where there have been a number of incidents of supply and they have analysed those substances long before an arrest is made.

5 No. At least there would have to be a court hearing for the Crown to formally offer no evidence. It might well be that the defendant would not be produced at it as there are benefits in being released from prison rather than from court basically because a prisoner isn't parted from his property if he isn't produced at court. But there would have to be a hearing about which the defence were told and invited to attend.

6 Depends what you mean. If he is 'bent' in the sense that he is secreting evidence to protect a person from prosecution then it would make sense to do that before charge an d then the whole thing falls away. If its just that he wanted to sell the drugs himself then they could go missing at any time. Its not all that easy to steal something that is already exhibited though. It will be the subject of recording and held by different sections. If a police officer were going to 'lose' any exhibit it would make sense to do it before it was recorded anywhere.

7 Yes, coud be. It depends at what point they went missing. There is no point in visiting a client in prison before the committal papers have been served basically because there is no case to discuss with them until that time. That is the relevant time.

8 It depends at what point the loss occurred. With either offences there is a first appearance at the Magistrates Court, then a committal hearing at the Mags to the Crown about 6 weeks after where papers are served. Then a PCMH at the Crown Court a couple of weeks later and then trial at the Crown. Obviously this does depend on papers being ready on each occasion which is a very optimistic view of the efficiency of CPS. At whatever stage though, the procedure would be much the same. It would be listed for mention with the defence lawyers to attend. The defendant might be excused but it would be cleaner to produce him at court. The Crown would just offer no evidence formally before the Court and there would be a verdict of not guilty recorded against the defendant. They don't have to give a reason for doing so and usually the defence don't ask as they are just happy that the case has been dropped. All criminal hearings in the UK are public save for Youth Court matters. Closed courts are for tin pot dictators.

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