ABH Caution and the NHS

Oldernotwiser

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

But their cautions and convictions may have been less recent, or they may start to have problems when they apply for jobs. A conviction should not mean an automatic ban to working in certain fields, each case should be considered individually.

NACRO may be able to help.

I would hope that a conviction for violence (not talking about cautions) ought to pretty well rule anyone out of working within the field of mental health.

junkmayle

Quixotic - Cautions NEVER go away. As they are NOT convictions, they are not covered by rehabilitaion of offenders act. From my own experience, if your CRB is not totally clear, you are forever damned. Most places, if its a toss up between 2 people, one with clear CRB and other one not clear, they will go for clear one. You might end up like me, sitting doing nowt cos I cant get work. I applied for a job on the bins and they wanted a CRB check. Why !!!!!!? Really CRB checks are so that the employer can absolve themselves of responsibility. "Well we CRB checked em not our fault guv" Common sense is a rare thing these days

Savvy_Sue

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I would hope that a conviction for violence (not talking about cautions) ought to pretty well rule anyone out of working within the field of mental health.

Possibly 'pretty well', but I still think each case should be considered individually, rather than a blanket "there's something on your CRB, you can't work with children / the elderly / vulnerable people / the general public." Which, too often, is what people assume the response will be if they have ANYTHING in their past.

The new HR manager's response would be understandable if they believed that the caution had not been disclosed - and maybe that's what they did believe, in the absence of other paperwork.

junkmayle, are you not applying for things if you think a CRB will be required because you assume you won't get anywhere? And if so, have you talked to NACRO or a local ex-offender's organisation about 'safe disclosure'? Yes, you have to disclose. No, it shouldn't be a permanent bar to any kind of employment. Yes, it may be more difficult! But where I work we have both staff and volunteers with records, as long as we don't get any surprises when the actual check comes back it is not a problem for us - certain kinds of conviction would be a problem, but it's not a 'blanket ban'.

ohreally

Quixotic wrote: »

ohreally any help or opinion via PM would be brilliant, so please message away.

No problem though can you wait a couple of days as i've unexpectedly got an oppertunity to grab a quick break from work and i'm off tonight for the rest of the week?

junkmayle

Savvysue - NACROs all well and good but in the real world just dont work. I have sent off a number of double applications to the same places with identical details except on one I said no convictions and the other I said I had. I got three interviews on the ones without disclosing. Didnt hear a thing from the others. Surprised? Way I see it is, I have a caution from some time back. Cant have been serious or I would have been charged. 'Evidence' has not been tested in a court of law. Circumstances were complex. There is no way I am going to justify myself to an interviewer for something over and done with and that cant easily be explained in the time allowed for an interview. If you have to keep justifying yourself to strangers over and over again there comes a point when you just say 'screw it'. Ive never been in front of a judge and yet I seem to have to be judged time and time again. Understandably, Im rather bitter and instead of me being a useful member of society, your taxes are funding me to sit at home twiddling my thumbs (Im not being sarky here, just bored sh!tless - wanna work)

skintas_2

i was in a similar situation, i someone assualted me in my house, they broke in and i hit them back in self defence, i pressed cahrges, they did to, i was arrested on supsion of 2 counts of gbh with intent, i wasnt charged they where and went to court. five years later i apply to be a child minder and i get turned down. i was assaulted.....in my own home in front of my 2 kids....rubbish, you try to help yourself , you get it all thrown back in ur face, the person who assaulted me is now a nhs midwife so figure that one out.........

Quixotic

I think the thread below gives hope to us all in similar situations:

http://swarb.co.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=5151&highlight=

OhReally - Thanks for the message, enjoy the time off, we look forward to hearing from you soon.

JunkMayle and Skintas - Sorry to hear about your situations, I do hope you can find the strength to fight your caution, if that's what you want to do. It's such a terrible thing and it does spoil any chance of you doing what you want to do. How long ago were your cautions?

Sue - Thanks for being so fair with your comments.

All of the comments so far have been really constructive, so thanks guys.

junkmayle

Quixotic - My caution was 4 years ago so I am now stuck with it. What has been a benefit of my caustion though? For the police, it cetainly helped with thier 'targets' and 'detection rates'. What it has cost them though, is mine and my families co-operation. Often, in the past, I have reported things to the police (my previous job meant I was on the streets more than they were) which may or may not have prevented or solved a crime. I considered it my civic duty in a (supposedly) civilised society. Now I wouldnt give them the smell off my !!!!!!. If they are happy to criminalise people at the drop of a hat then this will backfire on them as thier job is nigh impossible without public support. What has society itself gained - I cant think of anything. What it has cost society is my dole money, housing and council tax benefit, past, present and future plus my lost skills, future tax contributions etc in not being able to get work. Sorry for hijacking your thread somewhat but unless your girlfriend can get this caution quashed (too late looking at your opening post), or the law is changed to make cautions disappear after, say 2 years, or she just gets lucky, she is screwed for NHS work (I applied for internal post distribution in hospital - wanted enhanced CRB check?!) and possibly many other careers too.

Quixotic

Junkmayle - Don't worry about supposedly hijacking the thread, I'm grateful you're commenting and hopefully it will help us or others.

I'm sure that after 5 years you can apply with the local station you were cautioned at to have it removed, if you've done nothing since. From what I gauged (Someone correct me if I'm wrong) is that it will be removed from view from the basic and enhanced CRB search after 5 years, apart from possibly on high risk jobs with certain cautions. (Working with children and sex offences etc)

The caution WILL remain on the Police computer records for 100 years but is 'for their eyes only' and used if in the future you commit a crime or are suspected of one.

Now, this isn't always automatic and you might have to apply for it to be removed, but that was my understanding and someone correct me if I'm way off.

My girl friend as I mentioned is still working and able to explain the caution and still get work as a mental health support worker, so I don't see why you couldn't do the same.

Not knowing what you did or your age, I can't comment too much but it was 4 years ago and I'm sure you could still obtain work in the area you wish in some capacity.

I do hope things turn around for you.

As for a time limit on trying to get a caution removed is it 6 months after it was issued?

Thanks guys.

surreysaver

d123 wrote: »

its not really possible to appeal a caution as when the caution is given the person concerned has to agree they understand the process and more importantly admit guilt for the offence.

It's like voluntarily pleading guilty in court.

But they only agreed to accept the caution after being told lies by the poilce. Therefore, the caution should be null and void.