Tweet
I'm just trying to understand what makes a lie to and/or attempt to mislead the Police perverting the course of justice rather than (say) wasting Police time. Seriousness of consequences seems to be one dimension, but that wouldn't really explain the scenario of someone taking speeding points for someone else on their driving license.
Conversely, I can understand why someone who knowingly and deliberately makes a false allegation in order to have someone placed under investigation typically perverts the course of justice, ditto witness intimidation or whatever. I can also understand that someone making a silly/meritless false allegation for whatever reason, might simply get a fine for wasting Police time.
But what of those cases that sit somewhere in between? So let's say someone makes an allegation that they believe to be true, but is in fact incorrect (as distinct from false). If the allegation is irrational enough and/or they maintain it when it becomes clear they are in the wrong, they might still face a fine for wasting Police time but probably no more. But what if that person tries to "beef up" their (incorrect) allegation with false claims and attempts to mislead, in order to make it more credible/believable? Have they perverted the course of justice or committed some other offence?
It seems to me that if the effect of beefing up the allegation takes it from not being credible (because it is incorrect!), to being taken seriously, and resulting in an investigation of someone where one might not have otherwise taken place, it potentially HAS perverted the course of justice - yet this sort of scenario doesn't appear in examples of the offence. However I have found some CPS text that states it might be the appropriate charge where "the acts wrongfully expose another person to risk of arrest or prosecution" which I guess fits.
A similar situation might arise where a low level form of an offence has been committed, but the complainant isn't happy with that and lies to/misleads the Police to make the offence look like a more serious one, with more serious potential consequences. That too feels like justice has been perverted.
Thoughts? Thanks!
Conversely, I can understand why someone who knowingly and deliberately makes a false allegation in order to have someone placed under investigation typically perverts the course of justice, ditto witness intimidation or whatever. I can also understand that someone making a silly/meritless false allegation for whatever reason, might simply get a fine for wasting Police time.
But what of those cases that sit somewhere in between? So let's say someone makes an allegation that they believe to be true, but is in fact incorrect (as distinct from false). If the allegation is irrational enough and/or they maintain it when it becomes clear they are in the wrong, they might still face a fine for wasting Police time but probably no more. But what if that person tries to "beef up" their (incorrect) allegation with false claims and attempts to mislead, in order to make it more credible/believable? Have they perverted the course of justice or committed some other offence?
It seems to me that if the effect of beefing up the allegation takes it from not being credible (because it is incorrect!), to being taken seriously, and resulting in an investigation of someone where one might not have otherwise taken place, it potentially HAS perverted the course of justice - yet this sort of scenario doesn't appear in examples of the offence. However I have found some CPS text that states it might be the appropriate charge where "the acts wrongfully expose another person to risk of arrest or prosecution" which I guess fits.
A similar situation might arise where a low level form of an offence has been committed, but the complainant isn't happy with that and lies to/misleads the Police to make the offence look like a more serious one, with more serious potential consequences. That too feels like justice has been perverted.
Thoughts? Thanks!
Joking aside, it's a general question - but it relates to a specific matter under consideration that falls in that grey area, which would have been too difficult to explain in full and probably raised too many questions from people which I can't yet answer. The Police must be lied to and/or stories embellished daily - so I'm just trying to understand what, other than the obvious/published scenarios the CPS list, tips the balance towards the serious offence.
Comment