Signing and resigning of police statements and the legalities around it
Hi,
I was involved in an accident where a driver switched lanes and hit my car, he was drunk and was driving very fast (on a 60km/h road) and not to mention that he’s law enforcement. The people to first attend the scene were metro-policemen and they took statements, the police came and didnt do anything, they stood there watching. The following morning I went to the police station to ensure a case was opened for the person would almost killed and the lady who seemed to be high ranked said yes and followed on by giving me a case number. I then proceeded and put through my claim with the insurance. The insurance company did their investigations and while doing so they were told that the guy had died in hospital and had to seriously invest the case since there was a mortality, mind you the police are nowhere to be found. Road accident fund also visited me and took their own statement which they compared with that of the metro-policemen and they went off. Insurance came back to me and told me all was good and they check my statement and through their investigation all seems to be in my favour. A year later a guy calls me and said “I need to come and obtain a statement from you and your girlfriend(who was with me on the day of the accident), I told him I will not sign anything that Im not sure of and he is still calling and insisting that I sign the statement, how can I resolve this?, is this even legal for his to harass me like this with phone calls?
Thanks
Vuyo.
Category: Criminal Law, Victims of Crime
Region: South Africa, Western Cape
1 Answer
How did this guy identify himself ? And why did he need to take a statement? Besides that you are under no obligation to give a statement to anyone, not even to the police. Just tell him that you won’t give one. And block his number if you do not wish to speak to him.
Amended by author 20th December 2017, 19:22
Ok. Police rankings don’t have inspectors anymore. Nevertheless because somebody died the docket will have to be sent for an inquest before a magistrate. He/she will determine if anybody was responsible for the death of the deceased. If so then the prosecution decides whether to prosecute or not. In cases of accidents the finding is usually that nobody can be held responsible . Then that is the end of the matter. There is nothing sinister about it. I suggest you track and get a copy of the statement made to the insurance company to refresh your memory. You can then repeat it to the police. Then they can send it for an inquest and close the docket. If in doubt ask the ‘ inspector “ why you need to make a statement and whether it’s for an inquest. All the best.