Were warrants issued lawfully?

As it will be seen from this article, the police can also act unlawfully when it comes to administering search warrants.

This was the case as highlighted in the article where judges quashed a warrant, issued by the City Of London Magistrates' Court, for police to search the premises of Portsmouth Football Club boss Harry Redknapp, who were investigating alleged corruption in football. Apparently the warrant was invalidated because the copy shown to Mr Redknapp’s wife did not specify the address of her home.

For most people however, including those Cornish campaigners raided by Devon and Cornwall police in September 2007, what the procedure is for issuing and presenting a search warrant is unknown to them and are unlikely to know what to ask for if presented with one.

Lord Justice Latham, sitting with Mr Justice Underhill, said:

“The obtaining of a search warrant is never to be treated as a formality…It authorises the invasion of a person's home.”

The Solicitor, acting on behalf of the Radkapp’s, said:

“This was an outrageous abuse of power by the police who ignored the rule book and executed an unlawful search warrant at 6am…”

CPW asks, how many of the search warrants issued to Devon and Cornwall police to raid the homes of the Cornish activists arrested in September 2007 were issued lawfully? It maybe worth checking.

See this link for more information on search warrants.