Former Prince Andrew has just been arrested in Norfolk

Lemonjam I absolutely agree with you.

If there is enough evidence for a trial then a trial will take place. What is more, if he is sent to prison he will serve his sentence.

At least having been educated at boartding school and I understand that the regime at Gordonstoun was gruelling, followed by 22 years service in the navy. He will be well used to community living in cramped accommodation and poor food.

I think he has a naval pension of about £20,000 a year and is about to ualify for a state pension of around £7,000 as he paid NI contributions during his naval service.

A retirement income of £27,000, particularly if his brother picks up the bill for utilitiesin his new home, should enable him to live in uiet comfort and afford the local golf clubs fees.

Silvershadow: "Very helpful summary LemonJam, lots of unknown information in there. Would they make him surrender his passport?" If considered reasonable and proportionate and necessary yes that can be included in bail conditions.

Police will be careful to do everything by the book and everything recorded at every stage. Expensive lawyer representing AMW will also make sure all process is duly followed to the book so AMW is not treated more harshly or unfairly than is permitted.

Is like when you are interviewing or representing a suspect in a notorious case- e.g like the Soham Murder of the 2 girls- ( happened in my patch) at every stage you are on heightened alert to do things properly to secure the best outcome in the Public interest, and in that case Public Safety. This case is notorious because it's AMW. You are sublimally aware in time/due course, there may be books, newspaper articles, documentaries etc to come and police interview recordings often become available in such circumstances. However the RF may have special provision that AMW's interview recordings are not made public at any later stage- just like their wills do not become public until after x amount of years etc.

I would imagine AMW will be offered bail, but I wonder who would be prepared to stand bail for him.

M0nica

Lemonjam I absolutely agree with you.

If there is enough evidence for a trial then a trial will take place. What is more, if he is sent to prison he will serve his sentence.

At least having been educated at boartding school and I understand that the regime at Gordonstoun was gruelling, followed by 22 years service in the navy. He will be well used to community living in cramped accommodation and poor food.

I think he has a naval pension of about £20,000 a year and is about to ualify for a state pension of around £7,000 as he paid NI contributions during his naval service.

A retirement income of £27,000, particularly if his brother picks up the bill for utilitiesin his new home, should enable him to live in uiet comfort and afford the local golf clubs fees.

If he pleads guilty there will be no trial.

The emails published so far seem pretty damnong evidence that he passed commercial information to Epstein by normal email, incredibly stupid. In addition he seems to have been setting up a business for personal gain.

It seems to be plenty to charge him with, I really don't see how he's going to avoid jail possibly for a very long sentence.

I wish I believed that having enough evidence was sufficient. Evidence can and of course should be challenged for example on grounds of admissibility . There can be long legal arguments on ‘no case to answer’. I don’t want to believe this will happen and of course I agree that the professional involved eill ( or should be) at the top of their game but still…..

Primrose53 10-01 "You have muddled me up with another poster. I never said that".

I do apologise, yes I did. I scrolled through messages and read Brabdygran's message (15.18 and your originally post was immediately above as it was on a new page. Sorry for my mix up....

What crime has he actually committed?

Eazybee 16.09 "I would imagine AMW will be offered bail, but I wonder who would be prepared to stand bail for him."

Bail is not "offered" in the UK- it is imposed. No one has to "stand bail" for AMW if he has bail conditions imposed on him as a result of this arrest.

On reading some other posts- one thing of note, neither AMW or his legal advisor can not necessarily predict what further Epstein file releases may become available or what email evidence is in other people's possession ( evidently he was emailing someone + others might have been copied in? plus such emails may still be on Royal servers). So the extent of "disclosure" of evidence today is not necessarily the total evidence that will become available for possible trial. Yes they are searching AMB's current abode but also the Royal Lodge and the police may well contact RF IT support officers/ employees etc.

Kandinsky

What crime has he actually committed?

He hasn’t, he’s been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

As AMW has very limited income I assume he will get legal aid.
If the evidence is very strong he may just plead guilty and end it all.

Thank you Tuliptree
I must admit I’ve not been following this whole Epstein saga, but I do wonder what the obsession is with Andrew?

Kandinsky

Thank you Tuliptree
I must admit I’ve not been following this whole Epstein saga, but I do wonder what the obsession is with Andrew?

You’re joking right? 😂😂😂

Tuliptree

What took them so long?

The law?

The relevant Epstein files have only just become available.
The ones that may demonstrate 'misconduct in public office'.

David49- "As AMW has very limited income I assume he will get legal aid".

Yes, like every single detained person in policy custody has access to free legal advice, regardless of income and financial assets, at time of police arrest (its not legal aid as such; that can be applied for if anyone wants feee legal support for a divorce, criminal trial etc etc- at a later stage-you can google the income/savings requirements) AMB may only has a limited income but I would speculate he has substantial savings as at the very least he inherited from his mother apart from previous property sold equity. That would most likely preclude him from legal aid entitlement on an ongoing basis.

A duty solicitor is allocated- whoever locally is on the list that day, in that area of the police station where DP is being held. I would guess both AMW and the RF would want him to be represented by a Lawwer who is retained by RF or recommended as an expert in his field ( misconduct in public office ) by such RF retained lawyers.

I could be wrong but I doubt very much any Norfolk on duty rota local solicitor suddenly got a call this morning to go and represent AMW. I'll eat my hat if that transpires to be the case...

Kandinsky

What crime has he actually committed?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c70kjr9wjw0t#:~:text=At%2009%3A54%2C%20the%20BBC,all%20our%20platforms%20moments%20later.

Misconduct in Public Office.

quote UK Law Commission

".....*misconduct in public office is among the most serious offences in English law, carrying maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and is reserved for those who are found to have wilfully abused a position of public trust*

Maremia

The relevant Epstein files have only just become available.
The ones that may demonstrate 'misconduct in public office'.

The relevant files were only recently published —— they’ve been available for yonks and goodness knows who’s seen them over the years.

Tuliptree 'What took them so long?'

The police are required to have sufficient evidence to make a reasonable decision that a crime has taken place in order to make an arrest- that is the law as DAR rightly says. The evidence only became available on release of the Epstein files recently with regard to this offence.

I’m hoping for a 24hours in Police Custody on Chanel 4!

Just imagine😬.

Do you think he’s currently wearing a Police issue grey tracksuit and drinking instant coffee?

Tuliptree 16.48 "The relevant files were only recently published —— they’ve been available for yonks and goodness knows who’s seen them over the years".

But they/ the files (the evidence) were not known/ in the possession of the police force that has arrested AMW- thus they had no jurisdiction to arrest him.

Sago: "I’m hoping for a 24hours in Police Custody on Chanel 4!"

I watch it avidly! 24 hours in Police custody, Channel 4 is filmed in my patch- Cambs and Bedfordshire. If AMW is not in a police custody suite in these 2 counties he will not be subject to channel 4 filming for that programme.....

LemonJam

Tuliptree 'What took them so long?'

The police are required to have sufficient evidence to make a reasonable decision that a crime has taken place in order to make an arrest- that is the law as DAR rightly says. The evidence only became available on release of the Epstein files recently with regard to this offence.

Yes I know really. What I was alluding to was my belief ( not evidence) that A’s alleged misconduct has been known about for years ( he was sacked as trade envoy) and had bern covered up. Nothing was gojng to be done until the emails were made public and there was no hiding place. Then the police could act

Officers in the Royal Navy get treated very well. Their meals are as good as a fine restaurant and I bet he’s been eating well since although he claims to occasionally eat pizza. Prison food will be very different and he will have no one to wait on him.

The police are now in Windsor searching for evidence. If they don’t find enough for a charge he will be released but they will keep looking and they have the incriminating emails which Epstein kept. Other forces are apparently investigating sex trafficking of which he could also be guilty. This isn’t going to go away.

Sago: "Do you think he’s currently wearing a Police issue grey tracksuit and drinking instant coffee?"

Yes most likely shortly following arrest, wearing the police custody issue tracksuit and soft material footwear with no laces- yes. To reduce the risk of self harm- plus all possessions bagged and taken away during detention- mobile phone, watches, jewellery etc. Once his lawyer arrives he make make a representation to the custody sergeant that is "unbecoming for a RF" etc. It is entirely in the gift of the custody sergeant to:
1) most importantly to manage the potential risk of self harm
2) his decision alone whether to accept any such representations to not wear grey track suit. Eg this morning the DP I was representing was allowed to wear the grey trekkie bottoms and soft material shows but keep his own t shirt top on as had no buttons, zips or anything that could be fashioned into a ligature whilst alone in a cell.