Man Not Guilty of Theft - Highbury Corner Magistrates Court- 2024

Our client was charged with Theft by shoplifting. The prosecution alleged that our client committed the offence which was supported by CCTV. A police officer identified our client from CCTV stills as the person who carried out the offence having stopped and arrested our client on previous occasions.

Our client had pleaded not guilty on the basis that he did not commit the offence and that this was a case of mistaken identity. He was found not guilty as the court could not be sure that he was the person identified by the officer as committing the offence.

The officer gave evidence in court confirming his identification of our client as the person committing the offence. An honest witness even a police officer can be a mistaken witness.

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act deals with the identification of suspects in the following scenarios and sets out rules and guidance.

If the provisions of PACE are not followed then this could result in evidence being excluded by a court. 

Code D of PACE

• Identification of a suspect by an eye-witness
• Cases when the suspect’s identity is not known
• Cases when the suspect is known and available
• Cases when the suspect is known but not available
• Cases where witnesses have viewed images on social media
• Recognition
• Controlled Recognition
• Uncontrolled Recognition
• Other Forms of Identification

See the CPS website for more information on the various forms of identification evidence.

https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/identification