Collecting witness evidence
When you are investigating a suspected criminal offence you will need to obtain evidence - any material that helps you prove or disprove that someone has committed an offence. The order in which you collect evidence is important; in all cases you should work through each stage, starting with preserving and recording the scene. One form of evidence is a witness statement - a document recording the evidence of a person who you have spoken to, which is signed by that person to confirm that the contents of the statement are true. In these pages we show you what a witness statement contains, and how to prepare one.