When does the ‘clock’ start ticking, after someone is detained under s136 or s135(1) of the Mental Health Act? Straight-forward enough type of question: under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, the ‘relevant time’ is subject to considerable explanation, for the avoidance of any doubt. When you are arrested for an offence the police […]

I’m not trying to get on anyone’s nerves here, I’m really not. I just feel really passionately about this and we can probably agree that it is actually my job to keep chipping away at all aspects of policing and mental health issues. So with considerable regret, I must again raise the topic of street […]

Imagine this: someone rings the police to express concern for a friend or relative’s mental wellbeing, asking the police to ‘check on them’ to see that they’re OK. The officers attempt to do so, ringing a phone number that the friend provided and knocking on the person’s front door.  No reply and no response. There […]