Being arrested is frightening, and the decisions you make in the first few hours often matter more than anything that happens afterwards. Knowing your rights beforehand makes a real difference.
You are entitled to free legal advice
Legal advice at the police station is free to everyone, whatever your income and whatever the allegation. This is not means-tested and it is not a favour. There is no good reason to be interviewed without a solicitor present.
Asking for a solicitor is not an admission
It is a fundamental right, exercised routinely, and no court draws any adverse inference from it. Officers may suggest that waiting for a solicitor will delay your release — that is not a reason to decline. The people who are interviewed without advice are the ones who tend to regret it.
Your key rights in custody
- To free, independent legal advice.
- To have someone told you have been arrested.
- To medical help if you are unwell.
- To see the codes of practice governing how you are treated.
- To be told the offence you are suspected of, and why you have been arrested.
The interview
Before any interview, your solicitor is entitled to the disclosure the police must provide — an account of what they have — and to advise you in private. That advice covers whether to answer questions, give a prepared statement, or say nothing. Which is right depends entirely on what the police have, which is why the advice comes first.
Voluntary interviews are not “lesser”
If the police ask you to attend a “voluntary” interview rather than arresting you, the setting is more relaxed but the consequences are identical. What you say carries the same evidential weight and can lead to the same charges. You are entitled to the same free advice, and you should take it.