Authorities are lawfully allowed to hold anyone suspected of a crime for a “reasonable” period under the Crimes Act.
The reasonableness of that period is not set in law,though,and is governed by the number of offences and complexity of the offending. It can also include visiting a suspected scene and other locations linked to it.
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Veteran criminal barrister Philip Dunn,QC,said it was “highly unusual,to have such publicity and then keep the person detained”.
“They can’t keep him there forever,” he added.
“The question is,is two days enough? Is 60 hours enough? Is 100 hours enough? There is no set period of time under the law because the circumstances of offending can change.”
Mr Dunn said the law put limitations in place on investigators,to promote transparency and fairness,but that those limits were not set in stone.