if you withdraw a statement and there is no other evidence will everything be dropped?
I see from your other questions that you are the victim and only witness.
Take no notice of all the answers saying you’ll have to go to court. You most certainly CAN retract your statement and the case will be written off for want of prosecution. Speak to the officer in the case and explain your feelings. He/She will probably try to get you to proceed but at the end of the day, if there have been no charges so far, you can stop the matter from progressing further.
People need to understand the charge of wasting police time (sec5 Criminal Law Act 1967) is an extremely rare charge and is only used where the costs both financially and in man power are detrimental to the forces budget. The force can only Proceed with the say so of the Director of Public Prosecutions. In your case, this is just not going to happen.
March 27th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Depends, what is the statement :/ if its not serious and you dont want to press charges it may be, yes.
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March 27th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
http://www.cjsonline.gov.uk/witness/walkthrough/making_a_statement/faq/
Once you have signed your statement you cannot withdraw it. Once signed, the statement becomes part of the case papers. However, if you do need to change something or you later remember something that should have been included in your original statement you can make a further statement. If the case goes to court, you may be called to give evidence. If you are called to give evidence you will have to attend, whether you want to or not.
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March 27th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
once if yu withdraw a complaint everything will be dropped but to produce evidence before court if yu withdraw, only the evidence will be dropped but not the case.
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March 27th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
If you’re in England, the answer is ‘maybe’. Firstly it depends on the seriousness of the offence - for example if it’s a minor theft of your own property, then the answer’s probably yes.Secondly it depends on the reason you’re withdrawing your evidence. Is it because what you said happened didn’t in fact happen? Or is it because you’re afraid of come-backs?
If you’ve been assaulted, particularly by a partner or ex-partner, this is considered a very serious matter and it may not be so straightforward. The prosecution could still use your statement and compel you to go to court by a summons, which means if you don’t turn up you could be arrested.
Whatever the reason, you’ll have to make a second statement withdrawing the first one, and that would go before a senior Crown Prosecutor who would consider all the evidence and your reasons for withdrawing, and then decide on whether to proceed, by issuing a summons if they think it’s justified.
You should think very carefully before withdrawing your statement - the first step should be to contact the officer who’s dealing with your case and discuss it with them.
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Worked in criminal justice system for 24 years
March 27th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
I see from your other questions that you are the victim and only witness.
Take no notice of all the answers saying you’ll have to go to court. You most certainly CAN retract your statement and the case will be written off for want of prosecution. Speak to the officer in the case and explain your feelings. He/She will probably try to get you to proceed but at the end of the day, if there have been no charges so far, you can stop the matter from progressing further.
People need to understand the charge of wasting police time (sec5 Criminal Law Act 1967) is an extremely rare charge and is only used where the costs both financially and in man power are detrimental to the forces budget. The force can only Proceed with the say so of the Director of Public Prosecutions. In your case, this is just not going to happen.
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Retired UK police officer who’s taken many retraction statements.
March 27th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
You need to think this through and take some advice. There is a slight risk you could also be charged with wasting police time. You also run the risk of in the future not being taken seriously if you need to make another complaint or get caught up in an incident.
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