HOC 17/2007 Power of Search and Entry to Risk Assess Sex Offenders Subject to the Notification Requirements

Home Office Circular 17/2007 provides guidance on the power of entry and search to risk assess sex offenders subject to the notification requirements as provided by the amendment to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 made by Section 58 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006. Section 58 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 inserts a new section, Section 96B into the Sexual Offences Act 2003. This power comes into force on May 31, 2007 by virtue of SI 858/2007 (covered in March Digest).

The Circular contains the full text of the new Section 96B of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, an explanation of the reason for its introduction and provides guidance on how the power should be used in practice.

In summary, the new power is intended to enable the police to gather all the information they need about a relevant offender for the purposes of assessing the risks he poses, even if he is in apparent compliance with the notification requirements and there are insufficient grounds to believe he has committed a new substantive offence.

The new provisions allow the police to seek a warrant from the magistrates` court to enter and search, by force if necessary, the last notified address of a registered sex offender (or a place where there are grounds to believe the offender resides or can be regularly found) where there have been two failed attempts to enter a specified premises, for the purpose of assessing the risks he poses.

The application for the warrant must be made by a senior police officer, not below the rank of superintendent. The senior police officer should attend court in person to apply for the warrant.

A warrant will only be issued by a magistrate if they are satisfied that the following conditions are met:

?That the offender is a relevant offender, ie, an offender subject to the notification requirements.

?That the offender is not: remanded in or committed to custody by order of a court; serving a sentence of imprisonment or a term of service detention; detained in a hospital; or outside the United Kingdom.

?That the address of each set of premises to which the warrant relates is either the home address which was last notified in accordance with Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, or there are reasonable grounds to believe that the registered offender resides there or may regularly be found there.

?That it is necessary for a constable to enter and search the premises for the purpose of assessing the risk posed by the offender.

?That on at least two occasions a constable has sought entry to the premises in order to search them for that purpose and has been unable to obtain entry for that purpose.

The warrant may also authorise entry to and search of premises on more than one occasion if, on the application, the magistrate is satisfied that it is necessary to authorise multiple entries for the purposes of risk assessment. Where a warrant authorises multiple entries, the number of entries authorised may be unlimited or limited to a maximum.

If more than one address is to be searched, then the constable will need to attempt (and fail) to enter each address for which the warrant is sought.

A warrant can be issued even if the two previous occasions on which the constable sought entry occurred before May 31, 2007. However, on the two previous occasions, the constable must have sought entry to the premises in order to search them for the purpose of assessing risk. Visits for other reasons will not count.

In circumstances where a constable has been allowed into the premises to search for the purpose of risk assessment but not allowed into parts of the premises, eg, a particular room, this will count as being ‘unable to obtain entry’ for the purpose of risk assessment.

As the warrant does not grant a power of seizure, where evidence of a crime is found during a search under such a warrant, constables can use their general powers of seizure provided by Section 19 of PACE.

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