How realistic is the police’s handling of Down’s Syndrome in Line of Duty?

The return of Line of Duty, which began its sixth season last month, was controversial, as befits a show (in)famous for its handbrake plot turns and abrupt bouts of violence. Within the first fifteen minutes of episode one, a latenight tip-off from an underground informant led to a suspiciously intercepted armed robbery, a nearly botched police raid, and the arrest of a suspect in a year-long investigation into the unsolved murder of a journalist. So far, so Line of Duty.

But it was less a shocking plot twist than the decision to make the suspect a person with Down’s syndrome – played by Tommy Jessop, an actor with Down’s syndrome – that caused the most heated internet debates and soon drew the show’s writer Jed Mercurio into yet another Twitter spat. The character – who the police initially believe to be the subject of their tip-off Ross Turner, but who later identifies himself as returning character Terry Boyle – is held under caution and undergoes two rounds of interrogation by the head of the murder investigation DCI Joanne Davidson (played by newcomer to the show Kelly Macdonald) during the course of the first episode. In last night's third episode, after suspicion is cast upon him by a witness, he is brought back in for a third round of questioning.

According to Carol Boys, chief executive of the Down’s Syndrome Association, Mercurio’s portrayal of the police procedures for questioning someone with Down’s syndrome was largely accurate. Boyle is initially given an assessment to determine whether he has the capacity to undergo questioning and an “appropriate adult” is present to support him through the interviews, both of which are standard real-life protocols. .

“The important thing is that the individual supporting the person with Down’s syndrome should be somebody who is familiar with working with people who have learning disabilities. This could be a parent, relative, a support worker or someone who knows the person really well. In cases where there is no one readily available, social services would be asked by the police to provide someone” Boys said.

In both episodes in which he appears, the actor playing the appropriate adult was present in all of Boyle’s interviews, although she doesn’t intervene at any point, which gave Boys pause. “He probably needed somebody with him who was able to interpret for him because the character had very limited language.” The interview in last nigh’ss episode demonstrates how frightening it can be for someone who has Down’s syndrome to be interviewed under such extremely stressful circumstances: under increasingly intense questioning, he puts his head in his hands in obvious distress and eventually the interview is terminated.

“Boyle was obviously scared and he clearly didn’t totally understand what he was being asked,” says Boys. Sometimes the adult will help to reinforce the questions from the police by using accessible language and sometimes images to help the person to understand what is happening.

In real life, she says, “the police are very good” at providing such support. “They will call us if they feel that they need extra help. Definitely somebody would be there to try and help that person understand. Just because a person can’t communicate well doesn’t mean to say that they can’t understand what’s happening” she says. Nonetheless, the very fact of the appropriate adult’s presence in the scene is important: “She is there to make sure that the suspect is interviewed fairly and his rights are respected and she more than likely helped the suspect to obtain a solicitor.”

Mercurio had to defend himself after a character in the show used the term “local oddball” to describe Boyle, saying he was inspired by the recollections from a real-life suspect with learning disabilities of language used to refer to him by the police. Mercurio’s comments were supported by another spokesperson for the Down’s Syndrome Association, who told The Telegraph: “The reality is that people who have Down’s syndrome sometimes do experience hurtful language and we all have a responsibility to speak up when we witness this.”

Another issue viewers have been furiously debating is whether the inclusion of the character of Boyle is helpful or harmful for the public perception of Down’s syndrome, given that (as Vicky McClure’s character DI Kate Fleming pointed out during the first episode) a person with learning disabilities is more likely to be the victim of crime than the perpetrator.

“I’ve been working with people with Down’s Syndrome for a very long time and I can only think of two people who have been arrested in all that time,” says Boys. “A person with Down’s syndrome might well be drawn into a crime committed by other people and become victims of ‘mate crime’” – the term for when a vulnerable person is exploited by a perpetrator – “but very few have actually committed a crime.” She suspects that Boyle may turn out to be just such a victim. In his previous appearances in the show, in seasons one and five, Boyle, then played by Elliott Rosen, was exploited by an organised crime gang, who deposited a body in his freezer.

In last night's episode, DS Steve Arnott (a returning character played by Martin Compston, from police anti-corruption unit AC-12) suggests that Boyle may again be the victim of “cuckooing”, a form of crime in which the victim’s home is invaded by criminals who use it to carry out illicit activities, such as drug dealing. After trying to intimidate him into silence, the seemingly bent copper PC Ryan Pilkington, a former young offender from previous seasons now played by Gregory Piper, makes an attempt on Boyle’s life.

But Boys is clear that the inclusion of the character is a positive thing. “I think the most important thing is that there was an actor with Down’s syndrome in one of the main roles, and Tommy is a brilliant actor. The more that people with Down’s syndrome are included in this kind of high-profile programme, the better it is for acceptance in society.” The first episode of the new series was watched by 9.6 million people, making it the most watched drama in overnight ratings since the finale of Bodyguard in 2018.

What does she make of the argument that the show might contribute to inaccurate stereotypes about people with learning disabilities committing crimes? “Well it’s possible for someone with Down’s syndrome to commit a crime, and we can’t step away from that.”

Keep up to date with all things Line of Duty, by signing up for our weekly newsletter