A Case of Mistaken Identity

Every so often a case appears before the court that is memorable due to its unbelievable and often humorous circumstances.

One such case appeared before the court, in a manner of speaking, a couple of months ago.

The circumstances, very briefly, were that a woman had been arrested by the police, booked into custody and held overnight to appear before the remand court the following morning.

I can't remember the offence she was accused of, but the circumstances must have been such that the police weren't minded to grant her bail. She was interviewed at the police station in the presence of the duty solicitor, who crucially had never represented her previously.

The following morning she was put on the bus and transported to the local Magistrates' Court dealing with remand cases. Colleagues dealing with the case were in for quite a surprise at how matters were about to pan out.

By this time the woman's usual solicitor, who had represented her on many previous occasions and knew her very well, was awaiting her arrival at the Magistrates' Court. Prior to court the solicitor visited the cells to speak to her client, but instead of finding Ms Bloggs named on the charge sheet she actually found Ms Doe who was someone completely different.

For whatever reason Ms Doe decided to impersonate her mate Ms Bloggs, somehow managing to maintain the pretence from the moment of her arrest right up until her appearance at court.

Ms Doe was released from custody, but subsequently charged with obstructing a police constable - the custody Sergeant who had booked her in at the police station - in the exercise of their duties. She was bailed to appear back at the Magistrates' Court a couple of months later.

Ms Doe could have potentially faced the indictable offence of perverting the course of justice, but the decision was taken to charge her with the lesser summary offence.

The day of Ms Doe's hearing came and she failed to attend, but the prosecutor outlined the allegation against her as described previously. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Ms Doe.

Hearing about this case I was slightly dumbstruck that the police had not correctly identified Ms Doe at the time of her arrest and certainly when she was being booked into custody. I am speculating here, but I get the distinct impression that giving Ms Bloggs' correct name and date of birth was enough to incorrectly satisfy the police that she was Ms Bloggs.

Of course, in defence of the officers concerned, they would not be expecting anyone to take a night in the cells and possible further period of custody on behalf of someone else. Such bizarre behaviour is very unusual.

Had Ms Doe been charged with perverting the course of justice the case would have appeared at the Crown Court. It would have no doubt attracted widespread media attention and the police would no doubt have faced public criticism from the Judge.

The cynic in me is thinking that the decision to keep it in the Magistrates' Court, where probably no-one will ever hear about it, could be an exercise in damage limitation.