From Accused to Acquitted: How Pre-Charge Engagement Prevents Wrongful Charges
Wrongful charges happen more often than most people realize, even in the UK. For anyone under investigation, the emotional, financial, and reputational costs of being charged with a crime they didn’t commit can be devastating. However, such effects can be compounded when a person has a high profile or is otherwise subject to additional media scrutiny.
The simple act of being accused can destroy careers, damage families, and leave lasting mental and emotional scars, even if you are eventually cleared. Fortunately, pre-charge engagement offers a powerful way to fight back before a case ever reaches court.
In this article, the team at Holborn Adams, who helped pioneer the use of pre-charge engagement in the UK, will detail how these early intervention strategies can give their clients the best chance to stop wrongful charges in their tracks.
Why Wrongful Charges Happen in the UK
While the UK justice system is strong in many ways, it is not immune to errors. When looking at wrongful charges, UK stats reveal a system under constant pressure from a variety of sources.
The Police and CPS
This starts at the street level, where the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service are often forced to act quickly, some might say “too quickly” at times, to determine whether or not charges are appropriate in a given case. This is particularly true in cases that attract media attention. This can lead to mistakes being made at the earliest stages of an investigation.
One of the most significant issues here is incomplete or one-sided evidence. In many cases, suspects are charged based on limited information, without the chance to explain themselves or present their side. Public pressure can also influence decisions. When a case makes headlines, authorities sometimes rush to charge someone just to show the public that action is being taken.
The CCRC
The Criminal Cases Review Commission handles hundreds of serious cases every year where convictions are believed to be unsafe. In 2022, the CCRC referred 70 cases back to the Court of Appeal because of serious concerns. In fact, it’s estimated that around 3-5% of criminal cases in the UK involve some form of wrongful accusation.
Explaining the Prevalence of Wrongful Charges in the UK
As satisfying as it might be to point at a single issue or organisation and say, “this is the reason for wrongful charges,” but the truth is that mistakes happen for all sorts of reasons. From instance to instance, things like eyewitness misidentification, disclosure failures, flawed forensic evidence, and pressure to plead guilty can all play a part.
It’s worth mentioning that those defendants who either opt out of representation or who cannot afford high-quality representation are also at a more significant risk. However, this sometimes pales in comparison to high-profile investigations, where the constant media hysteria can cloud the judgment of everyone involved.
Perhaps one of the best examples of this is the case of the Birmingham Six, who were wrongfully convicted due to falsified evidence. A more recent example might include the so-called Post Office scandal, where hundreds were prosecuted based on faulty accounting software. The point is that if you’re facing an investigation, you cannot rely on the system to correct itself—it’s up to you to act.
If you don’t know what “acting” looks like, the best place to start is pre-charge engagement.
What is Pre-Charge Engagement and Why Does it Matter?
Pre-charge engagement UK is a vital tool for suspects facing any sort of investigation. Put simply, it allows defence teams to communicate proactively with police and prosecutors before any decision regarding charges is made. Rather than sitting back and waiting to see what happens, a pre-charge solicitor works to shape the investigation, highlight flaws in the case, and present evidence that could stop charges before they start.
Before 2020, this type of early engagement was rare. But following new guidelines from the Attorney General, pre-charge engagement has been formalised and encouraged across England and Wales. In fact, Holborn Adams was one of the primary firms behind the push to make pre-charge engagement a more common defensive tactic. As a result, suspects have a real opportunity to influence the process from the start.
From a procedural statement, the pre-charge engagement process begins after your initial police interview, but—as previously stated—before any sort of formal charging decision is made. In some cases, this process can last weeks to months, a time during which most suspects would be left in legal limbo.
With the help of a pre-charge lawyer, you can use this time to review the evidence against you, suggest further lines of enquiry, offer alternative explanations, and point out weaknesses in the prosecution’s case. Pre-charge engagement can streamline the investigation, saving time and stress for everyone involved. Most important of all, it gives suspects a voice when they would otherwise be silent.
A History of Pre-Charge Successes
There’s no shortage of examples proving how early intervention can save clients from disaster. In one instance, we were called in by a senior business executive who had been accused of financial misconduct. However, thanks to his decision to contact us right away, we were able to gather accurate audit records and present them to the authorities. This convinced the CPS that no crime had actually taken place, and the matter was closed with no charges filed.
In another case, a professional athlete was accused of assault after an incident that took place at a nightclub. Not only were we dealing with a high-profile celebrity, but also a public incident that threatened to impact his public image. In response to the allegations, we immediately secured witness testimony that contradicted the previous statements. As a result, the police decided not to proceed, and the story disappeared from the local papers.
The Holborn Adams website is full of hundreds of such cases involving high-profile and non-high-profile individuals alike. The reason is simple. The reasons for this overwhelming success are simple: the Holborn Adams team is committed to an immediate review of the evidence, aggressive identification of case weaknesses, and performs independent investigations where necessary. If you’ve been wrongfully accused anywhere in the UK (or beyond), Holborn Adams should be your first call.
Your Rights Under Investigation and How to Protect Them
Regardless of whether you’ve been wrongfully accused or not, anyone arrested in the UK has certain rights while under investigation, and it’s vital that you know how to use them wisely.
- For starters, you have the right to remain silent. However, that silence must be handled carefully. In the UK, anything you fail to mention when questioned can later be used against you if you bring it up at trial.
- You also have the right to legal representation at every stage of the process, not just at court. That’s why you should never agree to a police interview without a solicitor present.
- You have the right to be treated fairly under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, which protects you from coercive tactics.
Because the authorities cannot hold a person indefinitely without charging them, most suspects will spend the majority of the pre-charge process having been “released under investigation,” or “RUI.” While you are no longer in custody, but the investigation is ongoing. This can be a stressful process, particularly because any action that could be seen as witness tampering or perverting justice could lead to serious new charges.
The Best Pre-Charge Lawyers in the UK Make Every Second Count
When you are facing an investigation, every moment counts. Of course, choosing the right pre-charge lawyer UK can determine whether your case ends quietly or escalates to something far worse. The first thing you need to know is that not every defence solicitor specialises in pre-charge engagement. Traditional criminal lawyers often wait until charges are filed before starting to build a defence, but by then, the damage is often done.
Your goal should be to find a firm that can focus on early intervention, strategic engagement, and rapid, discreet action. If you’ve been wrongfully charged, you need a team that knows how to work with the police, how to negotiate with the CPS, and how to find the cracks in even the strongest-seeming cases.
Again, the key to defeating wrongful charges in the UK is acting early. Given that fact, it’s no surprise that pre-charge engagement puts you in the strongest possible position. If you are under investigation—or even if you suspect you might be—do not wait. Trust Holborn Adams to protect your rights during a pre-charge investigation and to fight for your future.
