[jambutty]

Just because a person has been arrested it doesn’t automatically follow that they will be charged, although people do take the two to mean the same thing.

Once a person has been charged with a specific crime the police cannot arbitrarily release him/her, unless they drop the charges.

Wrongful arrest is when a person has been arrested kept in police cells for at least one day and not charged. Or if charged and taken to court the police do not present any evidence.

The rules of arrest and charge etc are quite specific which is why the speil the copper has to go through when making an arrest has to be word perfect otherwise some smart arsed mouthpiece can cause mayhem.

If a person is arrested for being drunk and disorderly (the interpretation of disorderly can mean anything from staggering about to fighting) they are wheeled off to the station and then the duty officer decides whether to charge the offender or not. If the drunk is just drunk and not causing any trouble more often than not he will get put in the cells to sleep it off and chucked out next morning with a police caution and no breakfast.