GUILTY UK - Rebecca Watts, 16, Bristol, 19 Feb 2015 #4

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http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/public_justice_offences_incorporating_the_charging_standard/#a35

Assisting an Offender - section 4(1) Criminal Law Act 1967
The offence of assisting an offender ("the principal offender") is committed when:

the principal offender has committed an arrestable offence;

the accused knows or believes that the principal offender has committed that or some other arrestable offence;

the accused does any act with intent to impede the apprehension or prosecution of the principal offender; and

the act is done without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.

It is an offence triable only on indictment unless the principal offence is an either way offence, in which case the offence of assisting a principal offender is also triable either way. The maximum sentence for the offence varies from three to ten years' imprisonment, depending on the punishment applicable to the principal offence: s.4(3).

Proceedings may only be instituted by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions: s.4(4). Consent may be granted after charge but must be before committal proceedings (indictable offences) or mode of trial (either way offences). Consent must be obtained before proceedings are started by way of summons. It is not an offence to attempt to commit an offence under section 4.

Examples of the type of conduct appropriate for a charge of assisting an offender include:

hiding a principal offender;
otherwise assisting a principal offender to avoid arrest;
assisting a principal offender to abscond from bail;
lying to the police to protect principal offenders from investigation and prosecution;
hiding the weapon used in an assault/robbery;
washing clothes worn by a principal offender to obstruct any potential forensic examination.
There may be an overlap between the offence of assisting an offender and obstructing a constable, wasting police time, concealing arrestable offences (s.5(1) Criminal Law Act 1967) and perverting the course of justice .

The courts have made it clear that assisting an offender is a serious offence and, if the statutory offence of assisting an offender can be charged, it should normally be preferred over common law offences.

However, the common law offence of perverting the course of justice should be considered when:

the assisting is aimed at preventing or hindering the trial process (as opposed to the arrest or apprehension of an accused);

the facts are so serious that the court's sentencing powers for the statutory offence are considered inadequate;
admissible evidence of the principle offence is lacking.

Assisting an offender is sometimes not an easy offence to prove since it requires proof that the principle committed an arrestable offence and that the accused knew or believed this. In the absence of such proof, other public justice offences, such as obstruction or perverting the course of justice, can provide alternative charges.
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http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/public_justice_offences_incorporating_the_charging_standard/#a06

Perverting the Course of Justice
The offence of Perverting the Course of Justice is committed when an accused:

does an act or series of acts;
which has or have a tendency to pervert; and
which is or are intended to pervert;
the course of public justice.
The offence is contrary to common law and triable only on indictment. It carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and/or a fine.

The course of justice must be in existence at the time of the act(s). The course of justice starts when:

an event has occurred, from which it can reasonably be expected that an investigation will follow; or
investigations which could/might bring proceedings have actually started; or
proceedings have started or are about to start.
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BBM
 
I'm taking the sending of this supposed text with a pinch of salt ... we don't know that it was sent at all or if what was said was a direct quote of the whole text. I've seen LOTS of text/facebook messages going around that include 'who'd miss me if I was gone' that then go on to say the first ten people to like this post/forward this text blah blah blah ... so in my mind at least, I'm not paying that too much attention.

I am finding it worrying that these 5 are still being held :/
 
mrazda71 said:
I'm taking the sending of this supposed text with a pinch of salt ... we don't know that it was sent at all or if what was said was a direct quote of the whole text. I've seen LOTS of text/facebook messages going around that include 'who'd miss me if I was gone' that then go on to say the first ten people to like this post/forward this text blah blah blah ... so in my mind at least, I'm not paying that too much attention.

I am finding it worrying that these 5 are still being held :/
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I cant quote this as it isnt MSM, but I will just say that the comments on the Bristol Post website are interesting...
 
Insp.Dots said:
Or it could be they really were 'set-up'. We know that SP and NM obviously set about covering their tracks. Big questions for me are 'Who said Becky sent text saying "who would miss me?"..Could be they wanted it to look like she'd run away or topped herself. And then what better way to pass blame than dispose of body parts 'around' one Family unit. Those held Mother's house was also searched. Bear in mind they also made sure the car was parked elsewhere.....may have said he'd loaned it to one of those lads. I suspect that NM was extremely devious in his actions.
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All the articles I've read say the same exact thing, it was "friends" that claim she sent it:

"Police have refused to comment on allegations that missing schoolgirl Becky Watts sent a text message stating "who would miss me if I disappeared" the day before she was last seen. Friends had said the 16-year-old had sent the text before she disappeared. Asked to confirm whether the text was being considered, Detective Inspector Richard Ocone, leading the investigation, said: "I can't comment on that at this stage." http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/rebecca-watts-missing-friends-claim-5237904
 
Alyce said:
I cant quote this as it isnt MSM, but I will just say that the comments on the Bristol Post website are interesting...
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I can't get any of the comments on the Bristol Post to load! Anyone else having this problem?
 
Alyce said:
I cant quote this as it isnt MSM, but I will just say that the comments on the Bristol Post website are interesting...
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ON which story? I can't see any comments at all on the story about the questioning extension
 
It seems that perverting the course of justice can be more or less serious than assisting an offender depending on the circumstances. PCJ could encompass a wide range of actions including destroying evidence, lying to police, or alternatively making false allegations. Here are the sentencing guidelines:

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/sentencing_manual/perverting_the_course_of_justice/

It seems that the only circumstances in which AAO sentencing could be potentially inadequate would be hard core witness intimidation.
 
Alyce said:
I cant quote this as it isnt MSM, but I will just say that the comments on the Bristol Post website are interesting...
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Why doesn't the Bristol Post website count as MSM? It's a local news outlet. Do you mean their Facebook page? The articles I've looked at on BP don't seem to have any comment section.
 
ChuckieD said:
ON which story? I can't see any comments at all on the story about the questioning extension
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It is on the FB Bristol Post site ...... but I can see that several comments have now disappeared !
 
Clio said:
Well we don't know as yet. She may have admitted, sometime after arrest, that she lied but that doesn't mean she admitted to knowing of an offence. They may still have been trying to establish evidence that her lies were not "innocent" as I think you put it. It's relatively easy to prove someone has lied (e.g you said he was with you at xx:xx but here he is on CCTV at the corner shop at that time) - it's much harder to prove she knew what he was doing when he wasn't with her.
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On the Bristol Post page - can't remember if fb or Web page and I'm at work so can't find it - it was commented by a number of people that it was SH who told police where the body parts were - not sure of the weight behind that
 
gia2 said:
Why doesn't the Bristol Post website count as MSM? It's a local news outlet. Do you mean their Facebook page? The articles I've looked at on BP don't seem to have any comment section.
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Yes I did mean the FB page which was why I thought I was not allowed to link it ......... and, having just been back, I see that some of the comments have now been removed
 
Just FYI: posting links to msm social media pages IS allowed here.
 
epiphany said:
<snip> Wearing a blue T-shirt and looking tired and unshaven, Matthews was led into the dock in handcuffs by a female custody officer. When asked what his name was he did not hear and said: “Sorry?” He then gave his name his date of birth – 9 January 1987 – and his address as a street in Warmley, a village on the outskirts on Bristol.

<snip> ...She gave a different address from Matthews’ – Cotton Mill Lane in Barton Hill, Bristol, which has been the subject of intensive police searches.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...han-matthews-and-shauna-hoare-appear-in-court
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Wait a minute... :thinking: NM and SH don't live together? Previous articles have said they both live on Cotton Mill Lane. I've assumed they lived together because of that info. I seem to remember reading that they've been together a long time. Did they live together at one point, and only recently live separately? Or did they never live together?

Do they have any children together?

So her residence was searched. But was his residence searched? If not, why not? He's the one charged with Becky's murder. Surely they ought to search his residence, there could be evidence.
 
FeistyCat76 said:
Speaking as someone with MS, it can affect people differently depending on the part of the brain being attached and the type of MS progression. I don't have long term memory loss, but one flare up hit my short term memory hard, where I had trouble recalling simple things.
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Sorry what I meant was she would know and would have told police if she was having trouble remembering or had issues recalling items. It's been said by family that she's very intelligent and articulate so I would have presumed she would have told police if this were the case and they would not have placed a such emphasis on AG seeing Becky as they did if she were not sure. Also she is sure she had hospital appointment that day - that would have been verified almost immediately
 
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