Part 4: Police Investigatory and Other Powers Chapter 1: Emergency place of safety Pre-existing law
90.Prior to implementation of this Act, where a child aged eight or over is behaving (or is likely to behave) in a way that is causing or risks causing significant harm to another person, a police constable may be able to arrest the child on suspicion that the child has committed (or is committing) an offence.(47) As a person who is arrested outwith a police station must be taken to a police station as quickly as reasonably practicable after the arrest(48), such an arrest would also have the immediate effect of removing the child to a place of safety.(49)