At the police station, detainees under the age of 18 years old must have an Appropriate Adult (AA) appointed to them. The role of the AA is to ensure that the detainee is treated fairly and properly during the police interview and that the detainee is able to understand the questions asked of them and is able to express themselves clearly to others. The police are responsible for appointing an Appropriate Adult, which more often than not is a parent or relative of the detainee. If no suitable AA can be found, a representative from the Appropriate Adult Service will be appointed, who are usually social workers.
As a legal adviser, dealing with an AA who is a close relative to the detainee can sometimes be a challenge. In particular, parents often want their child to tell the police everything, either because they think that their child is completely innocent, or, if they have done something wrong, they should own up and tell the truth to the police. The child will often feel under pressure from the parent to do what their parent wants. The child may also not give proper instructions to their legal adviser as they are either too embarrassed or worried about what their parent would think.
Our role as legal advisers involves protecting our client’s interests and sometimes the advice we give is not what parents want to hear. I recently had a situation where a well meaning parent was insisting to her child that she did not follow my advice, which would have had detrimental consequences for my client. Luckily, my client trusted me enough to follow my advice, and the case was dropped the following day.
If you need represntation at the Police Station, contact the Ringrose Law Criminal Team. We have offices across Lincolnshire and Newark or alternatively can be contacted 24hours a day, 7 days a week on the following numbers;
Boston & Spalding 01205 314600
Lincoln & Sleaford 01522 561022
Grantham & Newark 0845 601 2664