united-kingdom sexual-assault
What is a reason for not making an initial arrest of a person accused of sexual assault?
<p>Recently Tommy Robinson's daughter was allegedly sexually assaulted by a man at a holiday resort  somewhere in the United Kingdom. </p>

<p>Tommy has claimed that he legally prevented the accused from leaving after confronting the man. He allegedly punched the accused in the face several times. He called the police.</p>

<p>Upon arrival, the police interview Tommy's 8 year old daughter who told them what had happened. She stated that the accused "squeezed" her "bum".</p>

<p>My question is, what is a valid reason to not arrest the accused? Secondly, what are the minimum  requirements for a man to get arrested for sexual assault in the context of this story, i.e where the "crime-scene" is still "fresh" and all parties involved are present?</p>

<h2>Police make arrests when <em>they</em> (or a judge) decides to</h2>

<p>Police have the legal power to make an arrest if:</p>

<ul>
<li>they witness a crime being committed. Indeed, <em>anyone</em> can make an arrest in this circumstance.</li>
<li>they have reason to believe that a crime has been committed.</li>
<li>they have a warrant from a judge.</li>
</ul>

<p>Some reasons why police can, but choose not to make an arrest are:</p>

<ul>
<li>they don’t believe a crime has taken place. Accusations are easy; convictions are hard.</li>
<li>they are exercising the discretion they have under the law to not prosecute a crime where it would not be in the public interest. Factors at play include the seriousness of the crime, the availability and strength of the evidence, the police and court resources available, other matters they have before them etc.</li>
<li>they do not have sufficient evidence now but will pursue investigations to get more. Arresting someone starts all sorts of legal clocks ticking and if they can’t bring their case in time the defendant will walk.</li>
</ul>

<p>There is the matter of who the police would believe. A jailbird like Robinson, who has just assaulted a man and has to come up with an excuse to avoid going to jail again, and who had plenty of time to prep his young daughter? Probably not.</p>
<p>See for example <a href="http://tommyrobinsonfacts.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://tommyrobinsonfacts.com</a> .</p>
<p>UK police will be very, very hesitant to arrest anyone because Tommy Robinson says so.</p>
