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RESOURCES DIRECTORATE
Corporate Support and Information Services – Data Protection
Police Headquarters, Saunders Lane, Hutton, Preston PR4 5SB

Tel: 01772 413327 Fax: 01772 412123 Email:

Tony Wise
Via

Via email:

11 March 2010

DearMr Wise,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION APPLICATION REFERENCE NO: 2346/10

Thank you for yourrequest for information received by Lancashire Constabulary on the 24th February 2010, which was as follows:-

Please provide a list of all crimes in which Lancashire policedetermine that drunkenness is a valid defence from prosecution.

Your request has now been considered andthe information you are seeking can be found below:-
Lancashire Constabulary would apply the law and only if there was a specific mention of drunkenness being a valid defence in the legislation would we consider that we could not proceed. However it must be realised that while a decision to charge a person with an offence can be made by the police for minor matters, the majority of charging decisions are made by the Crown Prosecution Service and they apply their Code for Crown Prosecutors criteria. This has two elements, an evidential test, then a public interest test.

In all prosecutions (even those that are decided initially by the police alone) the CPS takes over the prosecution and applies their two tests, and part of the first test is that any defences to the offence are adequately covered.

It is not possible to provide a list of offences where there are specific defences as this would be an exhaustive task requiring research into every criminal offence. This cannot be completed within the 18 hour ‘Appropriate Limit’ (as defined in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004). As a result, Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies and regrettably this task cannot be undertaken at this stage.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request an internal review of our decision, you should write to the Data Protection and Information Officer, Corporate Support and Information Services – Data Protection, Police Headquarters, Saunders Lane, Hutton, Preston PR4 5SB or alternatively send an email to . Details of the Constabulary’s Freedom of Information Complaint Procedures can be found attached to this email.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner’s Office cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by Lancashire Constabulary. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

Bryony Hopkinson
Freedom of Information Disclosure Officer

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