Get Make Them Pay here: https://knowrightsuk.gumroad.com/l/ma...
You're standing outside your own house and an officer has just said the words. You are under arrest. And you haven't done anything.
Maybe you rang them. Maybe it was your neighbour, or the other driver, or somebody who told a story first and loudest. Two people, one version each, and a man with four minutes to decide which of you he's looking at.
Here's what almost nobody knows about that moment. Suspecting you is not enough. It never has been. There's a second gate written into the same section of the same Act, and if he can't get through it, the arrest is unlawful however reasonable his suspicion was.
WHAT'S IN THIS VIDEO:
β Gate one: what section 24 gives an officer, and why it's a low bar on purpose
β Gate two: the word "But" that opens 24(4), and why grounds to suspect is not power to arrest
β The six reasons in 24(5) β and why the list being closed is the whole thing
β Code G 2.1, printed in the code his own force issued him: a lawful arrest requires two elements, and both must be satisfied
β Code G 2.4, and the alternatives sitting next to arrest: summons, charge by post, a penalty notice
β The Court of Appeal on an officer who gave no thought to the alternatives
β Section 28, and why "you know why" is not telling you
β The four lines to say, and the one thing that ruins them
Sources: PACE 1984 ss. 24 and 28 (legislation.gov.uk); PACE Code G 2012 (gov.uk); Hayes v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police [2011] EWCA Civ 911 (Find Case Law). Read in full, 1 Sept 2026.
β οΈ THE PART THAT MATTERS MORE THAN THE LAW
Nothing here is a reason to resist an arrest. Not one word of it.
If an arrest turns out to be unlawful, it stays unlawful all the way to a courtroom β and it doesn't become more unlawful because you pulled your arm away. What it becomes is complicated, because now there's a second question about you, and it's far easier to answer than the first.
No hand on anybody. No pulling away. No arguing on the pavement. Say the lines, get the answers or the silence, and go. Everything after that is paperwork β and paperwork is a fight you can win.
BEING STRAIGHT ABOUT THE SIX
An officer at a chaotic scene can often reach one of them honestly, and this isn't an argument that he can't. The point is that he has to, and somebody has to be able to say which one. That's a different question from whether he suspected you β and it's the one almost nobody asks.
England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland run separate systems.
FREE HELP FIRST, ALWAYS
The duty solicitor is free at every police station, any hour, and is not means-tested. Ask before any interview and before you give any account of your evening.
Get the full handbook on stops, searches and what to say: https://knowrightsuk.gumroad.com/l/ma...
I'm a criminal-defence solicitor but not your solicitor, and nothing here is legal advice about your situation.
#knowyourrights #uklaw #police #ukrights
Get Make Them Pay here: https://knowrightsuk.gumroad.com/l/ma...
You're standing outside your own house and an officer has just said the words. You are under arrest. And you haven't done anything.
Maybe you rang them. Maybe it was your neighbour, or the other driver, or somebody who told a story first and loudest. Two people, one version each, and a man with four minutes to decide which of you he's looking at.
Here's what almost nobody knows about that moment. Suspecting you is not enough. It never has been. There's a second gate written into the same section of the same Act, and if he can't get through it, the arrest is unlawful however reasonable his suspicion was.
WHAT'S IN THIS VIDEO:
β Gate one: what section 24 gives an officer, and why it's a low bar on purpose
β Gate two: the word "But" that opens 24(4), and why grounds to suspect is not power to arrest
β The six reasons in 24(5) β and why the list being closed is the whole thing
β Code G 2.1, printed in the code his own force issued him: a lawful arrest requires two elements, and both must be satisfied
β Code G 2.4, and the alternatives sitting next to arrest: summons, charge by post, a penalty notice
β The Court of Appeal on an officer who gave no thought to the alternatives
β Section 28, and why "you know why" is not telling you
β The four lines to say, and the one thing that ruins them
Sources: PACE 1984 ss. 24 and 28 (legislation.gov.uk); PACE Code G 2012 (gov.uk); Hayes v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police [2011] EWCA Civ 911 (Find Case Law). Read in full, 1 Sept 2026.
β οΈ THE PART THAT MATTERS MORE THAN THE LAW
Nothing here is a reason to resist an arrest. Not one word of it.
If an arrest turns out to be unlawful, it stays unlawful all the way to a courtroom β and it doesn't become more unlawful because you pulled your arm away. What it becomes is complicated, because now there's a second question about you, and it's far easier to answer than the first.
No hand on anybody. No pulling away. No arguing on the pavement. Say the lines, get the answers or the silence, and go. Everything after that is paperwork β and paperwork is a fight you can win.
BEING STRAIGHT ABOUT THE SIX
An officer at a chaotic scene can often reach one of them honestly, and this isn't an argument that he can't. The point is that he has to, and somebody has to be able to say which one. That's a different question from whether he suspected you β and it's the one almost nobody asks.
England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland run separate systems.
FREE HELP FIRST, ALWAYS
The duty solicitor is free at every police station, any hour, and is not means-tested. Ask before any interview and before you give any account of your evening.
Get the full handbook on stops, searches and what to say: https://knowrightsuk.gumroad.com/l/ma...
I'm a criminal-defence solicitor but not your solicitor, and nothing here is legal advice about your situation.
#knowyourrights #uklaw #police #ukrights