What can we take away from Andrew’s ‘release under investigation’?published at 11:06 GMT
11:06 GMT
Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent
Image source, Reuters
When the police arrest someone as part of an investigation, they ultimately have to decide what they want to do with the suspect, as the detention clock runs down.
Firstly, and obviously, they will charge a suspect with an offence if they have the evidence to do so.
Alternatively, they will release the suspect, declaring they are taking “No Further Action” (NFA), if they’re no longer suspected of wrongdoing.
In between charging and NFA’ing, there are two possibilities.
The first is police bail – release with restrictions on liberty, pending the outcome of the investigation.
But officers can only impose conditions if they are necessary to prevent the suspect from going on the run, committing an offence or interfering with the investigation in some other way.
Andrew’s “Release Under Investigation” (RUI) is the least intrusive option – he is not under any restrictions at all.
RUI is used when officers are in the foothills of an investigation and it would be disproportionate to impose restrictions on the life of a suspect, particularly when there is an awful lot of detective work still to be done.
A University of Birmingham study recently found officers often considered RUI to be “less faff” than bail.
And it means Andrew is free to go as he pleases, while police continue investigating. When that investigation will be completed is speculation.