POST OFFICE LTD INVESTIGATION TEAM
POST OFFICE LTD INVESTIGATION CIRCULAR 2002/08
Issued to: All Post Office Ltd Investigation Staff
Internal Crime and Investigation Manager
SUBJECT: Submission of Cases to Legal Services and Tape Summary
Preparation
Reference(s) (Tape Summary Preparation) : Interviewing,
Appendix 1 (Policies, Investigation, Corporate Security
Database)
The following standards of preparation of case files and tape summaries
should be applied with immediate effect.
1. Submission of Cases to Legal Services
At recent meetings with representatives from Legal Services, it was agreed
that the inclusion of large tape summaries and in some cases transcripts in
Investigation files and the subsequent reading of those documents by the
reviewing solicitor was both, time consuming and costly, adding little to the
quality of the subsequent advice, regarding the further conduct of the case. In
order to streamline the process somewhat and give a better return for
expenditure, it has therefore been agreed, that the process will alter
immediately as follows.
At the completion of the interview stage of each investigation, when the
offender reports are being prepared, consideration should be given by the
investigator in the case, as to the severity of the offence and whether an
official caution or less would be the likely advice of any solicitor reading the
case file.
If it is considered that the outcome of such a review by a solicitor would be to
issue a formal caution, or that they would suggest no further action, then it is
no longer a requirement for a tape summary to be included in the papers.
Instead a fuller description of the interview, should be included in the offender
reports and copies of the tapes included in the papers, in order that the
solicitor dealing might listen to the interview. The fuller description should
include tape timings as to where salient admissions/denials/key points of
interview can be found.
If the investigator is in any doubt as to whether a tape summary should be
prepared, then advice should be sought from the Investigation Team
Manager and if necessary the case discussed verbally with a solicitor.
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1. Tape summary format
As of 8 October 2002, the policy on preparation of Tape summaries has been
amended. This circular is being issued as a reminder of the need; when a
tape summary is required, to complete “verbatim” the preamble to any tape-
recorded interview, up to, but not including the offer of a friend at interview.
The new policy reads as follows
“The summary of interview or transcript must include a verbatim record of the preamble up to the
point where the ‘friend’ is offered. It will also include the fact that the suspect was reminded of his
legal rights upon recommencement of interview after a break. The explanation of the legal rights on
tape must be set out in full on a summary of the interview. It is no longer sufficient just to say “Rights
explained CS001 completed”.”
This policy should be complied with during the completion of all tape
summaries.
This circular will be posted on the PO Ltd S&A Library site.
Any questions regarding this circular should be directed to Tony Utting,
Tony Utting
Internal Crime Policy and Standards Manager
11" October 2002