Police interview under caution

When the interview commenced I was absolutely shattered from lack of sleep and so was my lawyer. I was in no state to be interviewed. I had been in custody since yesterday and awake for 30 plus hours. I could hardly think clearly. I decided I would write short prepared statement that would be read out and then stay silent during the rest of the interview.

Making a prepared statement and staying silent is a very common thing in police interviews.

It is worth noting that before the interview under caution you are allowed to meet with your solicitor for as long as you need in a private room. My solicitor was writing everything down I was telling him. If this case went to trail I could always bring those notes out in court to show jury that I hadn't changed my story and that my lawyer wrote everything down before the interview had started.

What I didn't want though was to be interviewed by two experienced police interrogators who could twist my every word around and make me sound guilty, especially that I was so tired and could hardly even think straight. Many innocent people have been convicted based on their interviews alone. The police are not there to help you, they are not your friend.

In front of me were the two officers on the other side of the table. To my right was my solicitor (if you can call him that). Quite frankly he wasn't very good. But he knew more about the law than I did. I just knew I was innocent and the victim of this entire situation.

During the interview my lawyer read out my prepared statement and DC Dial started to ask the questions followed by DC Denton who were both sitting in front of me. Then it went back to DC Dial to finish the questioning. They were talking to me as if i was a rapist; it was as if they had already decided I had raped Eleanor.

They also tried several techniques to get me talking, and to trip me up, asking me some casual questions as if the interview had stopped when it clearly hadn't.

Another time I laughed when they asked me if I had tried to drown Eleanor using a water boarding technique which I found so absurd I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

The interview was however not funny at all and was an exhausting process. It was actually very stressful to have two officers interviewing me asking me such person questions and alledging that I had done the worst thing a man can do to a woman – rape.

Towards the end of the interview they asked me for my Facebook account details which I gave them. They also told me that they were seizing my phone.

When the interview was over the officers disappeared and came back a few minutes later with my keys and told me that they were now going to search my flat.

Before the interview, because I had been in custody for so long I had to sign a form that would allow the officers to hold me in custody for a further 12 hours - which would mean a total of 36 hours.

After the interview, when they went to search my flat I really didn't know if I would have to spend another night in the cell. I also didn't know about bail and thought that I would have to raise money for it. I spent a few more hours in the cell knowing that strangers were going through all of my personal possessions in my flat. It was awful think about. I had no idea how long it would take, and no-one told me how long it would be until I was released or if I would be released at all.

Click here for the full transcript of Police Interview Under Caution.

Typical police interview room