E.A

Fishing on wednesday this week a EA bailiff approached me to see my rod licence,he was a nice chap but he had handcuffs on his belt.How much power of arrest do they have,could they handcuff you arrest you and be legal?

Depends how hard you can punch! knock him out and he can't arrest any one!

seriosuly, anybody can make a citizens arrest, don't know how far the EA can go though.

His wife may have been kinky!

the problem with citizens arrrest's is how much force you use to restrain......more likely to end upon the wrong side of the law yourself......the days of sitting on someone til a copper arrives are gone....a knife up the 'jacksy'would follow in todays society...

I'm still interested in the "power" the EA bailiff has, i was under the impression only the police could handcuff.......surely an angler could have a case for assault if bailiffs adopt it?

When I did it, you were empowered under PACE (Police and Criminal Evidence) Act, which gives you the power of arrest and confiscation, but this is only in respect of offences pertaining to the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1976 (I think).

So in a nutshell, yes.
An EA bailiff has the power to arrest you.

They can technically arrest you and impound gear and vehicle if you're poaching salmon.

Never having seen an EA bailiff, I wouldn't even know what one looks like.

Actually I have seen one once, but have never had my licence checked.

Sounds more like a member of the village people.
e.a. bailiff lives 5 mins from local lake I fish and he is on flexitime so he tops up on our lake all the time.
Still a waste of time though,9 of us fishing and he comes round ,me and Lee the only ones with licences,I show mine but Lee had left his a home so got a seven wonder.
the rest gave false names and address's and got away with it .Lee was taken to court and fined ?60 for not producing his licence even though we sent it off in the 7 days.
Now Lee's attitude is sod em Im not buying another licence ,I'll do what the others done.

I can't see how you can be fined for not carring a licence....i have ordered mine via switch over the phone a few times and i have always made a point of asking if i can go fishing immidiatly even though i have no licence on my person......each time they have given me a number and said it would be no problem.
i knew a bailiff had the power to arrest and confiscate but i'm still uneasy with the handcuffs thats a different ball game...i for one would be very uncomfortable letting anyone cuff me......well perhaps not anyone

Paul
he sent the little number slip in,which they refused so sent him two summons ,one for no licence and one for not producing a licence.I then sent a fax copy of his licence.
he then got a letter saying they had dropped the no licence one but were proceding with the failing to produce.
got done at st albans court ?60

I 'm quite happy having an EA bailiff cuff me as long as shes female with big tits, black susses, third reich uniform and a whip.

The EA bailiffs, what few of them we have, do any extremely difficult job and apart from checking licences, they also get involved with a lot of general work for the water environment.

They are not unfortunately known for their academic abilities, or a least the ones we met in the NRA days were lacking even the basic common sense. Fishing the Ribble a few years ago, a friend had dropped us off at the river bank and gone off to visit a friend who lived locally, on his return to pick us up, we had just finished loading the car, when a pair of NRA bailiffs asked to see our permits, me and the mate I was fishing with produced ours, they then turned to the driver and asked for his, he didnt have one and didnt fish, yet they insisted, all three of us told them he didnt fisdh, we told them to check the tackle in the car (only two sets of gear) yet they still insisted he had been fishing.

Basically we told them to piss off, got in the car and drove off. About 7 days later our driver recieved a visit from the police with a report from the NRA bailiffs saying they wanted to see his fishing licence, my mate told them he wasnt fishing so take him to court, the NRA saw their arse and backed down, what a set of baboons. Professionalism rules eh?

Evenin' all,
With regard to powers of arrest, any person may arrest without warrant any person committing an arrestable offence, or about to commit such an offence, or anyone who is guilty of an arrestable offence, or whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting he is guilty of the offence.

What is important here, is the nature of the offence. Not all offences carry a power of arrest. The obvious ones such as theft, criminal damage etc, are arrestable, so ANYONE could arrest, for example, a person they see stealing from a shop.

Other offences such as fishing without a valid licence, are not arrestable. If you don't carry your licence and refuse to give your details to a bailiff who requests them , then you could be arrested, but only by a police officer, under S25 PACE 1984, not the bailiff.

As for bailiffs carrying handcuffs, etc, then they are putting themselves on a sticky wicket. Common law does allow you to use force to protect yourself, and property, and to prevent offences being committed, but any bailiff who starts down this road without fully understanding the law, could find himself being arrested for false imprisonment, if he decides to handcuff someone who gets arsey with him when checking licences.

If in doubt, when approached by a bailiff who starts getting a bit tasty, ask him to call the police, and see what happens.

I am trained in the use of force, and can stand in the witness box to justify a baton strike, using handcuffs, and CS spray. I use the law every day, and know what to expect if I get it wrong....

Arresting someone, is about as serious as it gets, especially if you are in the wrong. The human rights act has made sure of this.

I'll happily answer any more questions if anyone wants to know more,

Tommo

Cheers Tommo, very informative mate. I've always wondered can a member of the public arrest a police officer for driving dangerously and at high speed, only one nearly hit me once and I had a child in the car?

The baliff sounds like the sort of chap that wears his mobile phone in a shoulder holster, and subscribes to 'Soldier of Fortune'.

Wrong man wrong job Ryan, we see it right through society, then we wonder why things go wrong!

Cakey,
it sucks doesn't it!!??......Tommo, thanks for explaining it all, sounds as if this particular bailiff was indeed one of the village people!

Village People Paul,
The YMCA have a lot to answer for!

YOUNG MAN!

Thanks Paul, must be all this training I'm doing?

"YOUNG MAN!" I'd join in Paul, but I don't know the rest either! LOL

Thanks for the info Tommo - I actually saw a bit of a scuffle last year involving three young lads (poss late teens) and an EA Bailiff. I was the other side of the lake (doing a reccy) but could clearly see what was happening.

It appears the lads got wind of him on his way round and packed up sharpish, but he still wanted them to produce their licenses. No probs as far as I'm concerned I had to do the same at Kingsmead once.

Could you please advise in this situation? They did'nt assault him as such - just that one grabbed him and pushed him aside - as we met I asked if he was ok - he was!

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There's no need to be unhappy

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You can stay there, and I'm sure you will find
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