What is bail and should I ignore police bail?

We currently receive many calls from people on bail from domestic abuse related offences, asking for help on whether to and how to break bail. Please do NOT call us for these reasons as we will not help where it directly endangers others. Go straight to a solicitor!

Bail is one of several actions that the police can take after arresting you. It involves release from police custody to await a later appearance at court or a police station. Your case can be dropped while you’re on bail.

If you are bailed without charge, called ‘pre-charge bail’ this means that you will have to appear at a police station at a later date. This is so that the police can look over the evidence and decide whether or not to charge you.

Being bailed and charged, called ‘post-charge bail’ is where you have been charged and you must appear in court at a later date.

Both types can come with conditions attached which are things you must not do, for example: “You must not return to the borough of Newham” or “You must not go within 1km of an airport”

1. Why the police use bail
2. What should I do if I’ve been bailed?
3. What happens if I break bail conditions?
4. Resisting victimisation of protesters.