Hi
Quick question. If the endorsement page of s135(1) warrant is not completed by the police constable - but it was executed by the police (with doctor/AMHP in attendance) and the patient was removed to a HBPoS for assessment - is the execution/removal/detention of patient still considered to be lawful?
Reading the actual warrant that has been signed and dated by the judge in my view that alone should be sufficient.
An AMHP has also advised the following:
The AMHP’s power to enter and remove under S135(1) is founded on the issuance of the warrant by the magistrate’s court. The police only sign the document to confirm that the warrant has been executed but not to issue the authority to gain entry and remove to a POS. As the S135(1) warrant execution is a police power, once we hand a copy of the warrant to the police, there’s no obligation on the AMHP’s part to keep a signed copy. We often only document its execution in the notes.
Without looking at Jones, I don’t see a problem that the warrant was not signed. Authority was provided by the Magistrate based on the information provided by the AMHP. If copies were not left, and the AMHP still holds all of the copies, I would make contact with the Court and check if they have been notified the warrant was executed. In the past, in my area, the Magistrate Court would audit the warrants and they would contact the service when it appeared to them the warrant had not been served.
Also just to add, the warrant lawfully permits the AMHP, one medic, and a constable to trespass upon property, and against the person. This would include preventing the person from leaving the home until the Medic and AMHP have considered (thought fi assessment) whether or not the person needs to be conveyed to a place of safety for the purposes of completing a MHA assessment and making an application.