Exceptionally, a joint enquiry/investigation team may need to speak to a suspected child victim without the knowledge of the parent or caregiver. Relevant circumstances would include the possibility that a child would be threatened or otherwise coerced into silence, a strong likelihood that important evidence would be destroyed or that the child in question did not wish the parent to be involved at that stage and is competent to take that decision. As at paragraph 5.43 above, in all cases where the police are involved, the decision about when to inform the parent or caregiver will have a bearing on the conduct of police investigations and the strategy discussion should decide on the most appropriate timing of parental participation.
