Pre-Text Phone Calls are a Common Methodology Used by Police in Sexual Offence Matters
Pre-text phone calls are a common methodology used by police in sexual offence matters. After receiving a complaint from a person, the police will give the complainant the opportunity to make a phone call to the accused person to discuss the accusations, with the hope of eliciting a confession from them.
This recorded conversation can then be given in evidence at an accused person’s trial, if they contain confessional statements. This can very easily jeopardise an accused person’s defence.
There is scope to make application to the Court for this evidence to be excluded if it meets any of the relevant criteria, being that the confession was not given voluntarily, or the evidence is unfair against the accused.
Our office will prepare an application of this nature on your behalf if there are grounds to have this evidence excluded.
It is important to remember that even exculpatory statements, being statements denying any wrongdoing, can be construed in different ways by juries and can often not assist in any defence.
If you have received a call which worries you, you should contact our office before returning the call or engaging any further with the person or police.
Further, if you have received a call of this nature and spoken with a person who has accused you of an offence, you should contact our office immediately for legal advice.