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I recently lost a County Court claim against the PSNI concerning wrongful arrest, false imprisonment, assault, and related matters. I am considering whether there may be grounds to appeal to the High Court and would appreciate any views.
The two issues that concern me most are:
- Reason for Arrest
The arresting officers gave evidence as to why they arrested me. However, in his judgment, the judge appeared to uphold the lawfulness of the arrest based on reasoning that was not advanced by the arresting officers themselves. My concern is whether a court can effectively provide its own justification for an arrest rather than assessing the reasons relied upon by the officers at the time. - PACE 22 Summary / Interview Audio
The judge accepted that the PACE 22 record was deficient because it failed to include important explanations that I provided. However, he found that this deficiency was cured because the audio recording of my police interview was supplied to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).
My concern is that I have repeatedly asked both the PPS and the PSNI whether the directing prosecutor actually listened to the interview audio before making the prosecution decision. Neither organisation has answered the question. If there is no evidence that the audio was ever reviewed, can it properly be said that the deficiencies in the PACE 22 record were cured?
For context, the criminal conviction arising from the matter was subsequently overturned on appeal.
I would be grateful for any views on whether either of these points could amount to an arguable error of law or otherwise provide potential grounds for a High Court appeal.
Thank you.