Chloe Jay, Partner, answers your questions on what you can do if your child is accused of a crime.

My son has been asked in for an interview with police – will I be allowed to go with him?

It is important to establish whether your son is being interviewed under caution, (which means the police suspect him of involvement in a crime,) as opposed to being interviewed as a witness. If he is under 18 years of age the law dictates he must have an appropriate adult present for an interview under caution. It may well be that you can fulfil this role provided you have not witnessed something material to the case which could exclude you. The role of the appropriate adult is to facilitate communication between the young person and the police, they cannot provide legal advice. It is always best therefore to ask for a lawyer to attend and advise on the merits of the case as well. If your son is aged 18 or over then he would only have an appropriate adult if he were to be considered mentally vulnerable in some way.

My daughter is 12 years old and has been accused of shoplifting, could she be prosecuted?

In a word, yes. The age of criminal responsibility in the UK is 10. This means that any child over that age can be arrested, prosecuted and sentenced at court. It depends whether the police are called to deal with the matter and whether your daughter accepts her involvement in interview. She may then be eligible for an out of court disposal such as a youth caution. Obviously though she shouldn’t accept this if she hasn’t committed the offence and it would be wise to seek legal advice.

My son has been accused of controlling/coercing his partner and I feel like our lives are on hold until the outcome of the investigation. What can we do?

I recently had this exact situation and I was able to work with the family to influence the police investigation. It was clear there were potential witnesses who had seen the couple together, the police were unaware of them and I explained their significance so that statements could be taken. I was also able to point towards text messages on the phone that would be relevant to our client’s case. In the end the police took no further action and the matter was dropped.

My daughter is subject to strict bail conditions set by the police that seem unfair. What can we do?

Firstly, you should try to negotiate with the police officer dealing with the case and put forward your points as why the conditions are impractical and unfair. If they are not prepared to amend them then there is a provision in law to take police bail conditions to the Magistrates Court. The Court can then intervene and vary the conditions if they agree with you. You must submit an application to the Police and Magistrates Court in writing.