So to put a long story short, this year 2021 in April on 23rd I was wrongfully arrested by a group of officers on 'suspicion of indecent exposure', they did this on the grounds of me apparently looking like the efit when in fact I look nothing like the efit at all as my visual appearance and the descriptions witnesses gave don't match. The guy they're looking for has short hair in a curtains hairstyle and is skinny 5'6
in their 20s, 30s that wears a black tracksuit and nike 720 trainers. Here's a picture of the efit. I was at home more than likely when all of these alleged offences occurred during February or March I think, even had CCTV footage to cover one of the days as an alibi. 


Now here's a picture of me, they're basically saying I look like the efit, I've had my long hair for about a year now and it's gotten longer too. I did take part in a digital video VIPER ID parade but again no results have been given to me. My entire interview was a 'No comment interview', police even eavesdropped on conversations I was having with my solicitor which they shouldn't of been doing.
 
When I was arrested, I had my clothes, laptop and mobile phone taken for evidence. At the time of me writing this, we're now in December and well, I last contacted my solicitor for an update but they keep giving me the same BS response telling me to wait to be contacted when all I did was ask for updates, I get told, 'wait to be notified' what a load of bollocks. What the hell are police even doing? Scratching their arse and eating donuts and bacon? Has the devices already been examined? Or are they locked away in an evidence locker waiting to be examined? If devices were examined then why has no update been given? Will CPS be notified regarding my fate? If devices were examined, would they be looking through everything since the beginning of time or would they only look for couple things around the time of the alleged offences happen to build a case against me and to find a trend of alleged behaviours to use in-court? I've been bailed after my arrest, then the bail was extended, then on 23rd July I was released under investigation and so I am awaiting the outcome. Am I sort of worried about being charged even though I wasn't there and my parents can confirm I wasn't there at the time of when this stuff allegedly happened in the town I live in as I don't go out anywhere.

I'm hoping I will be cleared of all this and hoping and praying I get my stuff back. I want to sue police for unlawful arrest. If they don't return my things, what can I do?

There is always a backlog of devices, waiting to be examined. Yours will be somewhere in the queue. Depends which police force it was and how busy they are, as to how long it will take for them to get back to you. It could easily be 12 months, or 2 years. When they finally decide what to do, you will probably receive a letter. That letter will either say NFA - No further action, or it could be a list of charges, if they find something. They will go through your internet browsing history and all your phone messages, looking for evidence to link you to the offence.

You could ask the police to give you a very rough timeframe, for how long it is taking them to examine devices, at the moment. But they will not give you an exact date. I was told 6 months, but it was 8 months before I heard anything. Assuming you are not charged, it could then be a few more months, after the letter, before they actually return your devices, and you will probably need to chase them up a few times, during that period, because it is not regarded as a high priority, for them to return things, after an investigation.

My question is, how long would it take for them to actually come back to me with a final decision? And is it always through by post? As far as I'm aware there's nothing illegal on any of my devices and my search history is pretty normal too. I'm pretty sure that if there was anything illegal on them like say for example cp then I'd be charged and arrested straightaway I think. I don't know how the full process works to be honest.

Would they look through everything on the phone and laptop since the beginning of the time? Or would it just be a couple things they could perhaps look for to connect to alleged offences?

When it comes to technology, one thing I am constantly hearing is the Police are far behind. My own solicitor even stated to me that I would more likely than not, be more qualified than those conducting forensics. Yet despite my instructions, refused to confirm the evidence being found on my devices because I knew it to be false. They claimed my offence dated back 10+ years! which is completely false because I never even had those devices 10+years, they claimed they found evidence on devices I know to be impossible. I made subject access requests to Police demanding information in what was found and where, they still refuse to provide me with this information. Although I did plead guilty to offences I was charged with, I wish I knew what I knew now before I gave my plea as I was ultimately let down by my solicitors.

At this stage, it really is unclear how long Police will take before they give you your devices back. I know of someone else who was investigated and it took 2 or 3 years at least only to be given a caution, told devices would not be given back and never challenged it. If you are yet to be charged for anything then there is little your solicitor can do other than keep putting pressure on the Police to either charge you or drop the matter entirely.

I believe that if they say they found evidence on your devices, they destroy them after a certain period, rather than give them back. In my case, there was no evidence, but as I went to prison, they gave the computer to my estranged wife.

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If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)

They found evidence on one of my HDDs which is what ended up getting me charged/convicted etc.

What happened with me was I had to sign a form to confirm I give them permission to destroy it after I was sentenced. What I didn't realise at the time was they didn't just destroy the one HDD, they destroyed the whole ~£2,000 PC rig. It had multiple drives in it and was a performance machine I built and had for less than a year.

The signing off on the stuff getting destroyed did seem like a wasted exercise though as the form did state that if I didn't sign then it'd be destroyed after 28 days anyway, so not entirely sure what the point in me signing it was.

In terms of the general OP question though - The honest, and rubbish, answer is that is can just take as long as it takes.

As others have mentioned, there is a backlog in regards to devices being looked at. 12+ months isn't unusual. For me, I was about 2 and a half years after it was seized (about a year and a half after sentencing) before I got anything back from them. Which was a far cry from the 28 days after my sentencing I was told. The only solution I found that seemed to get any movement was just constantly pestering them on a weekly basis.

After reading your original post again, I am starting to wonder...
If your being accused and investigated for "indecent exposure" which I assume is the legal term for flashing in public, then why would Police even need to seize and search your devices in the first place if the offence they believe you have committed is not computer related? I am no legal expert, but this just seems like a breach of Article 8 Human Rights Act and your rights to a private life.

I honestly don't know, I guess maybe because the guy they're looking for is said to have flashed kids. They didn't have a warrant either, they did a section 32 and barged into the house, and walked in on my naked mother and filmed her without her consent. They refused to fully explain themselves to me and my mum, other than me being arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure/sexual activity in presence of child. And this was all the way back in April of this year. I can assume maybe they took the phone to establish where I could've gone to since phones can be tracked via satellite.

This whole ordeal has greatly affected my mental health and has caused me to hate the police with a strong passion and has made me lost faith in the police as I no longer trust them anymore and don't ever wanna ask them for their help again. I'm thinking about making a big complaint about the two officers in-charge of the case that made the initial arrest, maybe even having them sued for unlawful and wrongful arrest. For the most part, is that I don't go out anywhere unless to work, go to shops round the corner or dentist/doctors, like I don't really go out anywhere as I'm very introverted and prefer to stay at home in my bedroom so most of the time I'm at home, we have CCTV footage to cover one of the alleged days that offence was supposed to occur as an alibi. The phone will pinpoint my location, being at home and my parents that I live with can also give their account to say that I haven't really been out anywhere to those places where I'm being accused of going to, etc. On top of that I have discord conversations with random normies online around the times of when these alleged offences would've happened for the most part anyway so, not only does that completely exnoerate me but also my physical appearance does as well. One of the five officers involved in my arrest stated to my Dad that 'people at the station said my hair was too long to be the person', etc.

I don't understand, if you deny what was found then why the heck did you plead guilty? Or was that for something non-related?