28H Searching persons in police custody.

1

This section applies if a person—

a

has been arrested for an offence under this Part; and

b

is in custody at a police station or in police detention at a place other than a police station.

2

An immigration officer may, at any time, search the arrested person in order to see whether he has with him anything—

a

which he might use to—

i

cause physical injury to himself or others;

ii

damage property;

iii

interfere with evidence; or

iv

assist his escape; or

b

which the officer has reasonable grounds for believing is evidence relating to the offence in question.

3

The power may be exercised only to the extent that the custody officer concerned considers it to be necessary for the purpose of discovering anything of a kind mentioned in subsection (2).

4

An officer searching a person under this section may seize anything he finds, if he has reasonable grounds for believing that—

a

that person might use it for one or more of the purposes mentioned in subsection (2)(a); or

b

it is evidence relating to the offence in question.

5

Anything seized under subsection (4)(a) may be retained by the police.

6

Anything seized under subsection (4)(b) may be retained by an immigration officer.

7

The person from whom something is seized must be told the reason for the seizure unless he is—

a

violent or appears likely to become violent; or

b

incapable of understanding what is said to him.

8

An intimate search may not be conducted under this section.

9

The person carrying out a search under this section must be of the same sex as the person searched.

10

“Custody officer”—

a

in relation to England and Wales, has the same meaning as in the M1Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984;

b

in relation to Scotland, means the officer in charge of a police station; and

c

in relation to Northern Ireland, has the same meaning as in the M2Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989.

11

“Intimate search”—

a

in relation to England and Wales, has the meaning given by section 65 of the Act of 1984;

b

in relation to Scotland, means a search which consists of the physical examination of a person’s body orifices other than the mouth; and

c

in relation to Northern Ireland, has the same meaning as in the 1989 Order.

12

“Police detention”—

a

in relation to England and Wales, has the meaning given by section 118(2) of the 1984 Act; and

b

in relation to Northern Ireland, has the meaning given by Article 2 of the 1989 Order.

13

In relation to Scotland, a person is in police detention if—

a

he has been taken to a police station after being arrested for an offence; or

b

he is arrested at a police station after attending voluntarily at the station, accompanying a constable to it or being detained under section 14 of the M3Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995,

and is detained there or is detained elsewhere in the charge of a constable, but is not in police detention if he is in court after being charged.

25C Searching persons in police custody

1

This paragraph applies if a person—

a

has been arrested under this Schedule; and

b

is in custody at a police station.

2

An immigration officer may, at any time, search the arrested person in order to ascertain whether he has with him—

a

anything which he might use to—

i

cause physical injury to himself or others;

ii

damage property;

iii

interfere with evidence; or

iv

assist his escape; or

b

any document which might—

i

establish his identity, nationality or citizenship; or

ii

indicate the place from which he has travelled to the United Kingdom or to which he is proposing to go.

3

The power may be exercised only to the extent that the officer considers it to be necessary for the purpose of discovering anything of a kind mentioned in sub-paragraph (2).

4

An officer searching a person under this paragraph may seize and retain anything he finds, if he has reasonable grounds for believing that—

a

that person might use it for one or more of the purposes mentioned in sub-paragraph (2)(a); or

b

it might be a document falling within sub-paragraph (2)(b).

5

But the officer may not retain anything seized under sub-paragraph (2)(a)—

a

for longer than is necessary in view of the purpose for which the search was carried out; or

b

when the person from whom it was seized is no longer in custody or is in the custody of a court but has been released on bail.

6

The person from whom something is seized must be told the reason for the seizure unless he is—

a

violent or appears likely to become violent; or

b

incapable of understanding what is said to him.

7

An intimate search may not be conducted under this paragraph.

8

The person carrying out a search under this paragraph must be of the same sex as the person searched.

9

“Intimate search” has the same meaning as in section 28H(11).