False criminal convictions.

blokecalledkev

Hi all,

I am sorry I really don't know where to post this so I have posted it here as this as occurred through my work.

I am actually really upset about this and would welcome any advice. Basically I work over seas and recently I was asked to apply for a Police Certificate from ACRO Criminal records office. This was no problem, I have never been in trouble with the police, never committed a crime, never been to court, never been fined or in prison. I have a squeaky clean record, or so I thought. I received the certificate a few days ago. I was shocked and horrified to see I had a string of convictions against my name. Six from the year 1977 which include arson, vechicle theft and driving whist uninsured. Two from 1984 which includes drug possession and supplying. I have never been involved in any of these actions, never been to court over any of them and never been convicted of any of them.

I phoned ACRO and explained that their certificate, along with their records were completly wrong. I was met with a very luke warm response stating it was unlikely they were wrong but they would look into it. 24 hours later I phoned them again, they were still looking into it and when they got the relevant information they would be in touch. I have still not heard anything, two days later.

It is slowly dawning on me that these convictions have been against my name for years and I was completely oblivious to it. So as well as upset, anger is starting to set in. Anger that somebody who is completely innocent of any wrong doing may well have been carrying around, for years, these false criminal convictions.

Sorry for the long winded story but I would welcome advice here. Is there somebody i should get in touch with? Somebody who can put this wrong, right? Thanks for any advice.

Kevin.

bluenoseam

Is it entirely possible that your name is somewhat common & as a result they have "searched" the wrong person? I'm not sure what can be done about things like this, but surely a word with the police would be in order as at the very least you have been a victim of identity fraud.

The_ICT_Engineer

There is one sure way to check that they have the right file details is to compare the fingerprints and photo on the file.

Topcat1982

Maybe contact a solicitor? Could be someone with the same name but I would want to be sure

blokecalledkev

Thank you everybody. I feel a lot better reading your replies. This is clearly an error and hopefully it can get cleared up very quickly. I am guessing even now that there will be details of these cases. Once the case files become available I am also guessing that it will become clear this wasn't me as the photos, fingerprints and even the details like date of birth and address will not be mine.

I feel a lot calmer now and will give this another day for them to get back to me. If they do not I will phone them again tomorrow. if there is still no joy I plan on going into the police station with the certificate and ask the police to look into this.

Again thanks for your replies, I am sure this error will be sorted out soon.

Kevin.

summerlady_2

Unfortunately this isn't entirely unknown, but as ICT engineer says the arrest photo and fingerprints will help resolve this.


I think the idea of going into your local police station is a good one. They may be able to fingerprint you for comparison with the records.


I hope this is quickly resolved. It must have been a shock.

Slinky

It's entirely possible there's somebody out there who shares your name and date of birth. I once worked for a recruitment agency and we had two people with quite an uncommon name with the same DOB register. It took a lot of looking at their CVs to determine they weren't the same person.

Hope you get it sorted quickly.

Gettingtherequickly

It happened to a work colleague who was surprised to discover she had a conviction in a place she has never been. Spoke to the relevant people involved in the DBS, took longer than she thought, but it all got sorted. Speak to them.

blokecalledkev

Thank you everybody. I really hope this gets sorted sooner rather than later. The reason for this police certificate was for an application for a visa to work in the US. Within this application form a question was specifically asked if I had any criminal convictions. Naturally I ticked the no box. This certificate totally contradicts that answer.

I have explained, to ACRO, the urgency to get this sorted prior to my appointment at the US Embassy next month but I have heard nothing again today.

Having never been in this position before I am really not sure how to proceed because if it is not sorted before my appointment I may be refused a work visa. This will naturally reach my employers, which could also have serious consequences. I will give it tomorrow and and if nothing happens I think I will go down to the police station.

Kevin.

tomtontom

Have you asked for an indication of how long it will take to resolve your issue? This would give you an idea of whether you need to reschedule your appt at the embassy.

blokecalledkev

No I haven't but that is a very good idea tomtontom. I will phone them tomorrow and ask. Rescheduling the appt at the embassy may cause a few problems but it is better that than being refused a Visa. Thanks for that.

Kev.