Thursday, October 23, 2008

Ignoring police 'not an offence'

Prosecutors have failed in a bid to make a suspect guilty of a crime if they do not answer the door when police officers knock on it.

The Crown tried to make the issue a special bail condition at Perth Sheriff Court for James Mullen, 37, who is accused of breaching a curfew order.

If imposed, the condition would have left Mr Mullen guilty of an offence had he failed to answer his door to police.

Mr Mullen's solicitor, Paul Ralph, said: "We have no objection to the curfew condition, but I'm not sure about the answering the door condition.

"If he doesn't answer the door then the Crown would be entitled to make certain presumptions anyway."

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis asked what the reason for the condition was and how it would be applied in practical terms. Refusing the request, Sheriff Foulis said: "It's a new one on me."

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