Post Redknapp, police and magistrates should appreciate the gravity of requests for a search warrant, says Paul Firth
Every magistrate in the land would do well to heed the lessons learnt from the judgment in Redknapp v City of London Police [2008] EWHC 1177 (Admin), [2008] All ER (D) 319 (May) in relation to the issue and execution of search warrants.
On 19 November 2007 warrants were issued under s 8 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE 1984) to search eight premises, including the home address of Portsmouth FC manager, Harry Redknapp. The warrants were executed in the early hours of 29 November and were the subject of judicial review proceedings determined by the High Court on 23 May 2008.
Judicial review of search warrants is a rare procedure. In the Redknapp case, the procedure itself prevented the court from coming to a detailed judgment on some matters. Evidence or a lack of evidence played a significant role, not least because there were central evidential matters which the court was not prepared to infer
