Criminal background check - where do I stand?

goaround

Quick question: I have to complete a criminal background check. An 'enhanced' background check.

In 2005 I got arrested for shoplifting. This was when I was a total mess - full throes of depression, started meds which were f**king with my head and basically I didn't care about myself or my personal safety.

The police caught me outside the mall, took me to the police station, took prints, took DNA and left me in a cell for about 40 minutes. It was terrifying. Though the policemen were kinda... cool about the whole thing. I was on my way home from Fife. They knew I had to catch a train and I think they let me go so I could get it.

At the end they said they weren't going to charge me with anything and I could leave with a warning. I didn't ask what that meant because I was literally petrified. Mixture of embarrassment/shame/regret.

So... my question is... will whatever happened that day show up on a criminal background check? I've been googling and found a few conflicting answers. I also don't know what happened to my DNA - because I wasn't charged was it destroyed? I know there are different rules in Scotland than the rest of the UK but I'm not sure.



Any help is appreciated.:o

Gavin83

I've had a police formal warning for a different offence which didn't show up on my enhanced CRB check, so I'd say your safe. Formal warnings mean nothing really.

kingfisherblue

My understanding is that a warning can show on an enhanced CRB and that it is at the discretion of the police force concerned. It is sometimes known as 'soft information'.

BERFFRO

kingfisherblue wrote: »

My understanding is that a warning can show on an enhanced CRB and that it is at the discretion of the police force concerned. It is sometimes known as 'soft information'.

I was told this too, When i emailed an ex-offenders help group asking what shows up on CRB as i to have warnings on my record. If they are 5 years old then they are spent.

mqandy

It will probably show on an enhanced CRB - although it might come down to the local plod's discretion.

Your employer doesn't have to hold it against you, however - although it might be hard for them to overlook.

In theory, the employer should only object to anything directly relevant to the job on the CRB - ie. sex offenses for childcare. That said, if this was a care job going into people's homes, shop lifting would be very relevant!

goaround

kingfisherblue wrote: »

My understanding is that a warning can show on an enhanced CRB and that it is at the discretion of the police force concerned. It is sometimes known as 'soft information'.

BERFFRO wrote: »

I was told this too, When i emailed an ex-offenders help group asking what shows up on CRB as i to have warnings on my record. If they are 5 years old then they are spent.

mqandy wrote: »

It will probably show on an enhanced CRB - although it might come down to the local plod's discretion.

Thanks everyone for your help. I'll just go ahead with the background check and hope for the best. Silly mistake coming back to haunt me!:o

DebtHater

To clear this up, arrests and warnings do NOT show on an enhanced CRB. I know this from experience! I have 2 assaults from when I was at school - self defence before anyone thinks I'm a bad person - for which I was arrested but no further action.

Nothing appeared and it all disappears (if anything is on a CRB) after 5 years anyway.

However, when you say "warning", was it a police caution? If it was a caution, this will show up.

kingfisherblue

Debt Hater, your assaults probably don't show up precisely because you were at school at the time - information on convictions when a minor is often sealed.

Also, it doesn't all disappear after five years anyway. Some convictions/cautions stay on your CRB for life. Shoplifting is not likely to, but any sex offences are likely to remain, as anybody who has committed a sex offence is not allowed to work with children or young people, in either voluntary or paid positions. This topic has been discussed many times on www.tes.co.uk and yes, soft information has appeared on enhanced CRBs, sometimes several years after the incident has happened.

LeeSouthEast

Was it a warning or a caution? The two are not the same. A caution (you accepted you're guilty) will show up. A warning of some sort may or may not.

Fire_Fox

Weirdlittleman wrote: »

It's amazing how depression and mental illness seems to result in people shoplifting. Is this a known symptom? Are the countries thieves all just un/mis diagnosed victims?

Maybe you could go away, read all the symptoms of different mental health conditions, read all the side effects of the different groups of medications and then question anything you don't understand?

jonny115

A warning can show for anything up to 5 years I believe at police discretion, depending on whether the offences were violent or not.