Christopher Dyke, Associate at Corker Binning, has been interviewed by The Telegraph in relation to the BBC’s Apple Tree Yard and discusses its depiction of the U.K.’s legal system.
“With Twitter awash with discussion over the treatment of rape victims in court and criticism over the depiction of lawyers, Christopher Dyke discussed what the series got wrong – and what it got right.
…
During questioning, Yvonne is presented with a new piece of evidence: a picture of her in the car outside the train station, that she didn’t know existed.
If you were represented by a solicitor, you would be advised to be cautious about answering questions before seeing all of the evidence that the police intended to ask you about.
There is a police strategy called phase disclosure, where a defendant will be given a little evidence, asked to give an account and then presented with more, unexpected, evidence. But I’d be surprised if someone who was arrested for murder would be answering questions when the police were using phased disclosure.
In a shocking plot twist, Yvonne was arrested in a restaurant while out with her husband Gary.
In order to arrest someone the police need reasonable grounds to suspect that they have committed an offence. In a murder case I would expect the arrest to be a sudden thing, and you would generally be surprised by the fact someone is there to arrest you.
Yvonne was granted bail, which her husband paid to the sum of £100,000, to keep her out of prison after being arrested
There is a legal presumption that you will not get bail if you are charged with a murder offence. It’s not impossible, as the court can grant bail if it is satisfied that there is no risk of you absconding or re-offending, which requires you to be in prison. The judge referred to Yvonne’s previous good character, and there were quite severe bail conditions and a curfew. Those are the kind of severe bail conditions I would expect when a serious offence is concerned. The
As for paying the bail, there’s both security and surety in English law. One is the payment of cash into a court account, the other is a promise to pay money in the event that the suspect absconds.”
Read the full interview, via The Telegraph, here behind a paywall.