R2OK!

John W · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 3367 Location: Warwickshire, UK

The police have refused to answer the question: when was he last seen, apart from (apparently) by his mother.... ?
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John W

ruddlescat · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester

Yet another story which is receiving completely over the top news coverage

People of all ages go missing in Britain every day but very few such cases generate this level of media hype

It's a story local to Edinburgh and it's fair enough for it to be reported in the rest of the country but not to the extent we've seen in the last few days in my view Sad

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mark occomore · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 9955 Location: UK

A body was found early on Saturday Morning and the police believe it's Mikaeel. The mother has been arrested.

Ian Robinson · Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 9:57 am Post subject:

Colin · Joined: 26 Sep 2013 Posts: 916

John W · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 3367 Location: Warwickshire, UK

Yes, Mark is in error at this moment in time Rolling Eyes

There is a distinction, detention and arrest. Might be better defined in Scottish law where you can have detention during enquiries/questioning, though in England I think you can be 'detained' if a place is being searched, in fact that is the circumstance in this case. Our expert here 'ruddlescat' may be able to explain better.

The national coverage I think was justified and people would have identified the street in Kirkcaldy as a location where the young boy was known.
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John W

Colin · Joined: 26 Sep 2013 Posts: 916

What all this does demonstrate is that the one thing that people keep telling us is now lost in modern society - "community spirit" - has shown itself to be alive and well in the area in which the boy went missing. The commitment and enthusiasm shown by local people to get involved in the search has been commendable, which proves that we shouldn't believe all that is printed in the Daily Mail or Express!

ruddlescat · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester

I agree with Colin that the community spirit has been fantastic in this case and it is often sadly lacking in Britain today

As far as other comments are concerned I am not qualified to comment on Scottish Criminal Law but I can comment had the case happened in England and Wales

If a person is 'detained for questioning' that generally denotes an element of compulsion rather than someone voluntarily attending a police station - of course quite often suspects are invited to attend voluntarily knowing full well that they will almost certainly be arrested if they don't agree

The only caveat I would emphasise is the fact that we have only press reports to go on and as we all know these can often prove unreliable - overall I think we should all keep an open mind until such time as the mother is either charged or released

What amazes me and actually somewhat annoys me is the fact that as Mark said anyone with even half a brain knows that a three year old child who is two feet tall is not going to be capable of opening a locked door so why on earth the police felt it necessary to spend huge amounts of time and public money in undertaking a search without first arresting and questioning the mother is beyond my comprehension - surely all the evidence pointed to an'inside job' rather than interference by any third party - still perish the thought they did it only to protect their own backsides Rolling Eyes

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