Section 28H — Immigration Act 1971: Searching persons in police custody.

Searching persons in police custody. 28H 1 This section applies if a person—

a has been arrested for an offence under this Part;

and b is in custody at a police station or in police detention at a place other than a police station.

2 An immigration officer may, at any time, search the arrested person in order to see whether he has with him anything—

a which he might use to—

i cause physical injury to himself or others;

ii damage property; iii interfere with evidence; or iv assist his escape; or b which the officer has reasonable grounds for believing is evidence relating to the offence in question.

3 The power may be exercised only to the extent that the custody officer concerned considers it to be necessary for the purpose of discovering anything of a kind mentioned in subsection (2).

4 An officer searching a person under this section may seize anything he finds, if he has reasonable grounds for believing that—

a that person might use it for one or more of the purposes mentioned in subsection (2)(a); or b it is evidence relating to the offence in question.

5 Anything seized under subsection (4)(a) may be retained by the police.

6 Anything seized under subsection (4)(b) may be retained by an immigration officer.

7 The person from whom something is seized must be told the reason for the seizure unless he is—

a violent or appears likely to become violent; or b incapable of understanding what is said to him.

8 An intimate search may not be conducted under this section.

9 The person carrying out a search under this section must be of the same sex as the person searched. 10 “Custody officer”—

a in relation to England and Wales, has the same meaning as in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984;

b in relation to Scotland, means the officer in charge of a police station;

and c in relation to Northern Ireland, has the same meaning as in the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989. 11 “Intimate search”—

a in relation to England and Wales, has the meaning given by section 65 of the Act of 1984;

b in relation to Scotland, means a search which consists of the physical examination of a person’s body orifices other than the mouth;

and c in relation to Northern Ireland, has the same meaning as in the 1989 Order. 12 “Police detention”—

a in relation to England and Wales, has the meaning given by section 118(2) of the 1984 Act;

and b in relation to Northern Ireland, has the meaning given by Article 2 of the 1989 Order.

13 In relation to Scotland, a person is in police detention if—

a he has been taken to a police station after being arrested for an offence; or b he is arrested at a police station after attending voluntarily at the station or accompanying a constable to it, and is detained there or is detained elsewhere in the charge of a constable, but is not in police detention if he is in court after being charged.