Evidence in the Case
| Published date | 01 February 1965 |
| Author | Dennis Bishop |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6503800207 |
| Date | 01 February 1965 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Crilllinal
Investigation
CONSTABLE
DENNIS
BISHOP
East Sussex Constabulary
EVIDEN£E
IN
THE
£ASE
Evidence?
For
the second time
that
day a frustrated police officer, standing in
the C.LD. office at
Tottenham
Court
Road
police station, gazed
unbelievingly at the well-worn articles
of
clothing in a small, untidy
heap on the
table-garments
lately the personal attire of a citizen
at
the time
of
his arrest. The detective
had
travelled far
and
his
temper, already impaired by a slow crawl through
London
traffic
at
the busy lunchtime period, was
not
improved with the knowledge
that
his mission was a failure. Even with the prisoner on board,
the return journey would be no less tedious, and at the other
end
would be the brusque official query,
"Well,
did you get the
evidence?"
"Negative,
sir".
It
was
not
as if evidence in this case was or
had
been non-existent.
Destroyed or disposed of by the prisoner, perhaps; non-existent, no.
One would have thought
that
that
last"
job
",
carried
out
as it
presumably was in semi-darkness, must assuredly have left the
most precise
and
meticulous worker plastered from head to heel.
The
man
was unmarked now
but
that
was to be expected, for the
considerable time lag since the commission
of
the last offence
had
allowed the culprit ample opportunity to bathe
and
change, repeat-
edly, if he so desired. Both house and lodgings
had
been searched
by the proper exercise
of
common law power and
the"
drum"
was
well
and
truly"
turned over
",
but to no avail. Lengthy interroga-
tion, again resorted to, was defeated by stony silence or an occasional
sly remark having no bearing on the matter in hand.
What
next? The officer mentally reviewed the position at
that
stage. The warrant to arrest, for example,
but
recently executed,
was supported by evidence barely sufficient to justify the appear-
ance
of
the prisoner in court, let alone result in a conviction.
Although the document
had
been applied for after the most consid-
ered deliberations, to justify issue, there must, within the limited
holding period, be police action to find and produce additional
evidence. Should such evidence fail to materialize, for the prisoner
it would be a let-out, acharge
not
proved, a case dismissed.
The clothing and effects on the table, already examined once, were
again systematically sorted. The officer required nothing elaborate.
Aminute
mark
or stain would suffice. A tiny speck
of
pitch or
February 1965 81
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