Assisting Offender

An assisting offender is a suspected or convicted criminal in the United Kingdom who has agreed to assist the investigation or prosecution of another person, drawing on their own criminal history and connections to do so. The practice is enabled by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, whose relevant provisions took effect in 2006 and placed the use of so called supergrasses on a statutory footing. Section 71 lets a specified prosecutor grant an assisting offender immunity from prosecution. Section 72 allows a restricted use undertaking, a limited immunity promising that information will not be used against the person. Section 73 allows a formal agreement bringing the assistance of the offender to the attention of a court so the court can pass a reduced sentence. Section 74 allows a specified prosecutor to seek review of a sentence already passed under such an agreement. The mechanism has produced mixed results. After Rhys Jones was shot dead in Liverpool in 2007 in a gang related incident, an arrested suspect became an assisting offender and gave evidence for the prosecution. In Northern Ireland, the trial of thirteen men on a range of terrorism charges relied on an assisting offender and ended with only one conviction after costing 11.5 million pounds, drawing heavy criticism of the approach. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/