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Cooper v Buchanan 1996 SCCR 448

Cooper v Buchanan 1996 SCCR 448


Citation: Cooper v Buchanan 1996 SCCR 448

Link to case on WorldLII.

Rule of thumb: If police have a search warrant to search a person, if they stop them in a car, does this extend to search the car as well? Yes, as a general rule it does.

Judgment:

“The power to search the vehicle extended to things found within the vehicle and to persons travelling in the same vehicle with the suspect at the time when it was stopped. The crucial point in this case, which distinguishes it from Lucas and makes it similar to Campbell is that it was information relating to the presence of Banner travelling within a vehicle in possession of drugs which led the police to stop the vehicle in the first place. It was this information which entitled the police to search both the vehicle in which he was suspected of travelling in possession of controlled drugs and the appellant who was travelling as a passenger”. Per Lord Justice-General at p.451D.

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Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.