Answers
Thread 2
What would a reasonable person think of Dave’s initial behaviour?
Paragraph 2.2 Code of Practice A of PACE states that:
‘Reasonable grounds for suspicion depend on the circumstances in each case. There must be an objective basis for that suspicion based on facts…’
The first thing to note here is the time at which events took place. It’s 3 a.m. Actions which seem reasonable at 3 pm would not seem so at 3 a.m. The next thing to consider is Dave’s actual behaviour. He is seen entering private property ‘furtively’, entering a shed and re-emerging putting something into his pocket. A reasonable person (remembering that the reasonable person is the yardstick for police action here) might think that Dave is not the owner of the property, nor does he have a right to enter the shed and remove items from it. Remember that the police only have to show a reasonable suspicion that a state of affairs exists.
The fact that it is subsequently discovered that Dave owns the property
is irrelevant to the question of whether or not the police’s behaviour
at 3 am was reasonable. At this point it might be reasonable to suspect
Dave might be carrying stolen property, ie the item which he is seen to
slip into his pocket as he is leaving the shed. This reasonable suspicion
gives rise to a power to stop and search Dave under s.1 PACE 1984 which
provides a power to stop and search for ‘stolen or prohibited
articles’ .