§ Mr. Jannerasked the Attorney-General what was the length of time between the commencement and the termination of commital proceedings in the case of Paul Bostock, of Beaumont Leys, Leicester; and what was the reason for the delay in the case.
§ The Attorney-GeneralPaul Bostock was arrested on the 1 May 1985 for an offence of murder which was committed on 27 April 1985. He first appeared before magistrates on 2 May. He was committed for trail on 13 December.
The investigation of the case by the police was complicated by the fact that Paul Bostock admitted during his interviews that he had committed a murder in 1983. A very large number of statements had been taken during the earlier murder investigation, and these statements had to be assessed and the case re-investigated in the light of the new development. These factors resulted in a delay before the report was submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions on 8 August. After the submission of the report, the Director instructed the police to take certain further steps with the result that committal papers were not served on the defence until the middle of October. After service of committal papers it is the responsibility of the defence to agree a date for committal.