The police have seized my PC. When am I likely to get it back?

Six months ago, the police seized our family computer because my son was arrested on suspicion of credit card fraud.

He hasn’t yet been charged and we have no idea when we can get our PC back, as the police officer in charge of the case told us the computer hasn’t even been examined yet. Even though we have no PC, we still have to pay our broadband contract.
John Smith (name has been changed)

This is not the type of case that we usually cover in Consumeractive but we have investigated it because this kind of situation affects more people than you may realise.

We all know that there is a growing problem of card fraud, identity theft and other criminal offences being committed online. Because of this, many innocent or gullible people find themselves linked to these crimes as has happened to the Smith family.

It appears that their son unwittingly became embroiled in a credit-card scam while on a trip with his friends. The hotel was booked through a third party who said that they would pay for the rooms using their credit card and took the cash from the group.

However, this card was stolen but because Mr Smith’s son’s name and address were the contact details used on the booking form, the police naturally came calling there first. He has been interviewed but the computer was seized because the police investigation needs to make sure Mr Smith’s son is not involved in using the stolen card online.

We have talked to Mr Smith’s solicitor and he is writing to Avon and Somerset police again to ask when the PC is going to be released back to the family. We have also talked to Avon and Somerset police and will update readers when we hear back.

We also spoke to the Association of Chief Police Officers to see if there were any guidelines that the police should follow in these cases. They told us there were not and each force has its own way of handling computer forensics.

Sometimes this is done ‘in house’, while other forces use computer-forensic companies. But the police are undermanned in this area and there is a huge backlog of cases.

So, sadly for anyone caught up in a situation such as this, you may be waiting a long time until your PC is returned.

If the police seize your PC for forensic examination, we would advise you to work with your solicitor to see how long it will take for the authorities to examine it. A lot will depend on the seriousness of the crime the police are investigating and it can take up to two years in some cases.

If the PC is in ‘custody’ for longer than you think necessary, your solicitor can write on your behalf to the police, and also log a complaint if it is deemed necessary, but this doesn’t mean you will be successful.