Manchester Police, R (On the Application Of) v Hookway & Anor

Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, statutory detention periods are calculated from the same fixed “relevant time”. A warrant of further detention authorises detention only for the period stated in the warrant, subject to the statutory maximums. Release on police bail may suspend the use of an unexpired period, but it does not revive an expired warrant or extend the court’s statutory power beyond the limits in section 44(3). Section 47(6) requires earlier detention to be counted in a period that falls to be calculated, but cannot alter an express expiry date or enlarge the magistrates’ court’s jurisdiction.

The Chief Constable sought judicial review of the decision of Salford Magistrates’ Court refusing an application under section 44 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. The interested party had been arrested on suspicion of murder and was granted a 36-hour warrant of further detention. He was released on police bail before that period had elapsed and later returned to the police station on several occasions.

On a later return, the police treated part of the warrant period as remaining and applied to extend the warrant. The magistrates’ court concluded that the original warrant had expired and dismissed the application. The central issue was whether the warrant could be extended after the period stated in it, having regard to sections 44 and 47(6).

1. The claim was dismissed. The warrant of further detention issued on 8 November 2010 authorised detention for 36 hours from its time of issue, namely until 06:22 on 10 November 2010. Its ordinary meaning did not permit the period to be carried forward indefinitely merely because the suspect had been released on bail before it expired.
2. The expression “the relevant time” bears the same meaning throughout the statutory scheme. In this case it was 12:40 on 7 November 2010, when the interested party arrived at the first police station after arrest under section 41(2)(d).
3. Section 44(3) imposed an absolute temporal limit on an extension of a warrant of further detention. An extension could not last more than 36 hours and could not end later than 96 hours after the relevant time. By 5 April 2011 that statutory endpoint had long passed, so the magistrates’ court had no power to grant the requested extension.
4. Section 47(6) required earlier periods of police detention to be included when calculating a period that fell to be calculated under the relevant part of the Act. It could preserve the use of time remaining within an otherwise unexpired statutory period, but it could not revive an expired period or alter the express limits on the court’s power under section 44(3).
5. The court noted that the ruling would have limited impact on ordinary police practice. In many cases a suspect returning on bail would either be released because the evidence did not justify a charge or be re-arrested under the statutory powers where fresh evidence had emerged.

Permission to apply for judicial review was granted by HHJ Pelling QC on 20 April 2011, with an expedited hearing directed before a High Court judge. The Administrative Court list judge approved the matter being heard by a single High Court judge. The judicial review claim was dismissed.