Police to set dangerous precedent, says Tuckers

A police decision to tell the victim of a hit-and-run accident to fight the case himself, despite having enough evidence to prosecute, is setting a dangerous precedent, says a leading criminal lawyer.
Businessman Max Lehrain was told by the Metropolitan Police that it was "not in the public interest" to prosecute the motorist who drove off after knocking him off his motorbike.
Franklin Sinclair, senior partner at Manchester based firm Tuckers, and chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, says: "I have known it to happen for fairly minor assaults where police are reluctant to prosecute where there is no injury. That is understandable. But I cannot understand this at all.
"On the basis that the police are satisfied the person they traced knocked the guy off the bike - and there is enough evidence - they must prosecute.
"It is clearly in the public interest. From the public's point of view this is certainly a dangerous precedent to set."
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police says: "The decision to pursue a case is often quite complex and involves a number of issues, such as quality of witness statements and the resources we have available."
The police offered Lehrain copies of their reports into the accident to help him bring a private prosecution and to support an insurance claim.