What should you do if you are issued a section 172 notice? Harewood Law has explained everything you need to know below.

The police can seize money from you if they suspect that you got hold of the money through crime, or you intend to use the money for crime. But how do you get it back after it has been seized?

When the police seize cash from your car, it’s because they suspect that the cash is linked to criminal conduct. The police have the right, and the power to seize this cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (usually referred to as ‘POCA’).

If you’ve been convicted of a crime (especially something fraud, or drug related), you may also be given a confiscation order. The confiscation order is the legal way of making you repay the ‘benefit’ you received for carrying out the crime you were convicted for. It’s like a large fine that you pay to the state.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is a serious offence that can have life changing consequences. At Harewood Law, we have detailed the most common queries we hear when providing advice on drink driving offences.

If you’ve been called in for a voluntary police interview, we’ll explain why it’s a good idea to attend and to make sure you have legal representation.

What does it mean when someone is Released Under Investigation by the police? And is it different to being released on bail? Here’s what you should know.

If the police have called you in for an interview, you might be wondering whether you need a solicitor. The answer is yes — and here, we explain why.

Shortened forensic reports whether that be SFR1s (Streamlined Forensic Report Stage 1), Abbreviated Forensic Statements or Results Reports are being encountered with increasing regularity in cases involving DNA and more widely amongst different areas of forensic science. These short report formats give the results of the DNA analyses undertaken, often in a piecemeal approach.

Footwear mark examinations can vary enormously, from simply coding the ‘pattern type’ of a mark and a suspect’s shoes (to determine if they are worthy of further work), to carrying out full evidential comparisons. In recent years, an increasing number of police footwear mark units have gained UKAS accreditation and have the expertise to produce evidential statements. However, on occasions we continue to see what are essentially ‘screening reports’ which, in the absence of follow-up work, have become the de-facto evidence.

Prosecution errors in requesting IP address evidence can cause issues. Getting the information, however, is only half of the issue - understanding what its evidential value is, is just as important.

EncroChat guaranteed users anonymity by automatically deleting messages remotely and completely wiping data if anyone tried to hack the device or access messages. EncroChat realised that its service had been infiltrated in the middle of June, but the exact date of the interception may have been months earlier. This was a coordinated effort across Europe. The actual method used for the hack/interception is unclear at this stage. Many of the suspects arrested were released under investigation or released on police bail after the initial police interviews. Others are still to be arrested.

A huge amount of data has been obtained but it doesn’t necessarily establish criminality. Lawyers, Bankers, Family Offices may also use EncroChat or one of the many alternatives that’s still around.

A wave of arrests were made following a targeted hacking of EncroChat devices. A collaboration between UK, Irish and European Police agencies resulted in a “significant,” number of arrests being made, the seizure of 15 phones using EncroChat software and £360,000 in cash, in what has been described as the “largest and most significant enforcement operation,” mounted by UK police in response to organized crime groups.

‘The gangland figures murdered the hits ordered on EncroChat: How killings of Salford's 'Mr Big' Paul Massey and mob 'fixer' John Kinsella were called in using encrypted phone network’.

Operations were carried out across Europe as a result of police accessing millions of messages sent using the encrypted messaging network, EncroChat. 746 suspected top tier criminals who are believed to be involved in murder, gun smuggling and drug trafficking crimes were arrested, 54 million in cash was seized and 1.45 tons of cocaine seized.