It Is Now A Criminal Offence In The Uk To Be Someone’S Secret Boyfriend?

[Hymie]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11434335/Claudia-Lawrence-Police-say-lovers-have-been-lying.html

[EDDIE51]

She is missing presumed murdered, the police want to talk to anyone who may know something about it. Her lovers are suspects.

[Baldric]

Was glossed over here earlier!

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question1403244.html

[Hymie]

But if I was her secret boyfriend, and knew nothing about her disappearance, what would the arresting charge be (suspicion of murder?)

[retrocop]

So you think that certain people should not be questioned in order to be eliminated from a police enquiry into a murder. I would think,personally, I would be happy to assist police unless I was the murderer.

[Hymie]

You are getting off message – since the secret boyfriend is to be arrested, what is the charge?

Person A is the missing person’s secret boyfriend, and knows nothing about her disappearance.

Person B has never met the missing person, and knows nothing about her disappearance.

The police have said that they will arrest Person A, (I am assuming here that the police are not planning to arrest Person B, >99.99999% of the population).

By my logic, the only difference between Person A and Person B is that person A is the secret boyfriend – and therefore the charge will logically be ‘being a secret boyfriend’.

Can someone point out the fault in my logic.

[Hymie]

Since the secret boyfriend has no knowledge in relation to the disappearance (and so cannot be withholding evidence, or obstructing an inquiry) – It strikes me that the police might be facing a wrongful arrest suit.

[retrocop]

DB
It might be morally wrong for a married man to have an affair but It is criminally wrong to murder someone.
If I were to be guilty of an infidelity I would sooner come clean about that and risk an expensive divorce than keep quiet and worry about a life sentence if I were innocent.
I recall so many low life,uncles,boyfriends of mothers,step-fathers sobbing their eyes out because of the disappearance of a girl. Surprise Surprise those doing the crocodile tears on TV press conferences end up on the charge sheet and convicted for murder.
The police must be allowed to explore every avenue in their investigations and those who do not come forward with helpful assistance should be charged with obstructing police in their investigations.

[EDDIE51]

it is not an offence to be a 'secret lover' but it IS an offence to withhold information or to give false information about a serious crime such as murder. That is what this is about. The stories told by the people they have been able to question obviously do not match ,so at least some of them, or possibly all of them, must be lying.

[Peter Pedant]

That poor innocent fellow in Bristol - all HE did was give inconsistent stories to the media and the police and got arrested on suspicion of murder

the landlord - recovered a lot in libel damages when he was shown to be obviously innocent and it was the other lodger what did it

[New Judge]

When I was once in India a body was washed up on the beach. Two days (and four high tides) later the police cordoned off the area and began combing the sand for clues. We all laughed.

This unfortunate lady has been missing for six years. Now police plan to search her house and garden because they believe she may have been murdered there and her body moved to the alleyway where she was found. I'm not laughing.