Suspects interviewed without appropriate adult present in over 100,000 cases in England and Wales, charity says

Police officers detained and interviewed vulnerable suspects without an appropriate adult present more than 100,000 times last year in England and Wales, according to a charity report.

The failure by officers to provide assistance, chiefly to those with mental illness, autism or learning disabilities, leaves them at risk of miscarriages of justice, the National Appropriate Adult Network (Naan) has warned.

The survey, which reveals marginal improvements on similar research four years ago, reinforces calls for the Home Office to create a statutory duty to provide help for vulnerable adults in police stations.

The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) has endorsed the report and called on the Home Office to make provision of appropriate adults for all vulnerable suspects a statutory responsibility for local authorities.

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Since 1998, there has been a duty for all children in police custody to be supported by an appropriate adult, who can be a parent, social worker, or someone with whom the suspect is familiar. There is no such statutory duty on local authorities, however, when officers deal with those over 18 and deemed to be in need of help.

Naan coordinates training and sets standards for those who safeguard the rights and welfare of the vulnerable when detained or interviewed by police.

Based on police figures, the report concludes that in 2017/18 at least 111,445 detentions and voluntary interviews of vulnerable adults took place without an appropriate adult being present.

The report says: “Failure to apply [such a] safeguard not only undermines the welfare of the individual, but also puts them at risk of providing information that is unintentionally inaccurate, unreliable or misleading. This can lead to significant consequences, including additional court time to ascertain the admissibility of evidence, failed prosecutions and miscarriages of justice.”

Chris Bath, Naan chief executive and author of the report, said: “It is in nobody’s interest for innocent people to have their lives ruined, or indeed guilty people to avoid convictions, due to the failure to ensure mentally vulnerable people are given appropriate adult support.

“Police must comply with their duty to secure an appropriate adult. It is only fair, both to them and to vulnerable people, that we ensure independent AA services exist in all areas.”

Dr Roxanna Dehaghani, lecturer at the school of law and politics at Cardiff University, said: “These latest figures demonstrate the need to ensure all vulnerable adults are given the correct support. But perhaps the more significant issue is that there still exists no statutory duty on any agency to provide these vital services. Provision across England and Wales remains patchy.”

Martyn Underhill, Dorset police and crime commissioner, who speaks for the APCC on police custody and mental health, said: “The treatment of vulnerable people in custody is a serious matter. The lack of clarity from the government on who is responsible for funding and commissioning appropriate adult services for vulnerable adults remains a concern.

“In July 2018, the Home Office announced a new voluntary approach for PCCs and local authorities to work in partnership to ensure vulnerable adults receive the necessary support they require when entering police custody. Naan’s report provides a strong indication of how police forces and PCCs have increasingly become a stopgap measure in commissioning services.”

Previous studies have indicated that as many as 39% of adults in police custody have a mental disorder or intellectual disability. Last year police recorded the need for an appropriate adult in only 6% of around 1 million police detentions and voluntary interviews of adults.

The report also found that where police had no access to an organised appropriate adult scheme, they were half as likely to record an adult suspect as needing one.

Dehaghani, who spent six months observing procedures in police custody, said provision was a postcode lottery and that custody sergeants were often failing to implement safeguards for vulnerable adults.