What Should I Expect in a Caution Plus 3 – Voluntary Police Interview?

The purpose of a police interview is to give a suspect an opportunity to respond to any allegation(s) that has been made against them and to advance any defence should they later wish to rely on at any subsequent court proceedings.

One can never be prepared for what lies ahead of them in a police interview.

At the commencement of the interview everyone will introduce themselves for the recording and explain their roles.

The lawyer’s role is to protect and advance a suspects legal rights as well as providing continuous support and advice throughout the whole interview process.

We will interject if the police are being oppressive in their line of questioning.

The interview can be suspended at anytime to seek further legal advice.

The investigating officers role is one of impartiality and by this we mean that they should be listening to a suspects version of events with as much credibility as to what the victim/witnesses are saying.

In reality defence lawyers see a more biased approach on a daily basis whereby some officers our out to prove guilt.

In addition to this the police are duty bound to follow up any lines of enquiries that a suspect brings to their attention to assist in their defence.

This particular point is reiterated in the attorney generals pre-charge engagement guidelines.