Failed Vetting due to criminal record help

Undervalued

catt20 said:

TonyMMM said:

What was it - a conviction at court, a caution ?

It may be that the offence itself wouldn't be a problem, but putting "no" to the question on the vetting form would be a much bigger issue.

I think it was a warning it wasn’t anything serious from what I can remember, I genuinely didn’t think anything would show up on my name with it being so long ago 

If by "a warning" you mean you accept a formal caution then you admitted your guilt of a criminal offence. If you were in fact guilty they it was probably the best thing to do. However, sadly people often also accept cautions just to make something go away and not fully understanding the implications which can follow them for life.

As other have suggested, assuming this was something fairly minor, then the problem was most likely lying about it in your application.

I find it a bit hard to believe that you "can't remember" what this was all about and I imagine most prospective employers will have the same issue. I would suggest you "remind yourself" of the details!

People make mistakes and that is generally understood but you need to be totally "up front" about it.

elsien

Just to reiterate what others have said:
No-one is going to believe that you don’t remember being arrested, being taken to a police station and accepting a formal caution. That in itself puts up a red fish about your character, because it looks as if you’re trying to hide something. 

If you were under 18 then there would have been a parent or other adult there. If you can’t remember details of the caution, I’m pretty sure they would. 

I can’t remember because I was a juvenile just isn’t going to cut it. In future, check if the conviction is spent or not for the role being applied for then tick the right box if it’s not.
For most jobs it will be spent, but getting it deleted isn’t going to happen. 

https://yjlc.uk/resources/legal-terms-z/youth-conditional-caution

Have a look at NACRO as well, they may have more information about which cautions can be filtered out for DBS. 

Undervalued

elsien said:

Just to reiterate what others have said:
No-one is going to believe that you don’t remember being arrested, being taken to a police station and accepting a formal caution. That in itself puts up a red fish about your character, because it looks as if you’re trying to hide something. 

If you were under 18 then there would have been a parent or other adult there. If you can’t remember details of the caution, I’m pretty sure they would. 

I can’t remember because I was a juvenile just isn’t going to cut it. In future, check if the conviction is spent or not for the role being applied for then tick the right box if it’s not.
For most jobs it will be spent, but getting it deleted isn’t going to happen. 

https://yjlc.uk/resources/legal-terms-z/youth-conditional-caution

Have a look at NACRO as well, they may have more information about which cautions can be filtered out for DBS. 

Many / most jobs yes. However that won't apply for things like the police, prison service, security services etc. 

Just to repeat, it may well not be a bar to working for one of those organisations. Being even fractionally "economical with the truth" certainly will be.

lincroft1710

Along with others, I find it difficult to believe you cannot remember being arrested and taken to a police station. For a lot of people this would be a traumatic experience. So have you (up till now) remarkably managed to block out this episode in your life? 

Savvy_Sue

I second the advice to speak to NACRO: they'll help with how to disclose when it's necessary. 

https://www.nacro.org.uk/

General_Grant

Does the Prison Service not use the DBS process?  I thought the results of that meant you would automatically be sent a copy of the report.

Savvy_Sue

General_Grant said:

Does the Prison Service not use the DBS process?  I thought the results of that meant you would automatically be sent a copy of the report.

That is true: it should remind you of what the offence is, when it was, and whether it was a caution or a conviction. 

Own_Worst_Enermy

you only really lose out on failure to declare at the right time in some organisations (I’m sure someone will be along to argue that soon) but seen on a recent contract.

TBagpuss

catt20 said:

So basically I have applied to work at prison and passed everything apart from vetting, I received my feed back yesterday which stated I failed due to having criminal offence/offences on the national police data base, when filling out vetting I did put no as I didn’t think anything was going to show up nor did I think I had a criminal record as I was a juvenile (under 18) I can’t really remember what even happened (I’m over the age of 30 now) so my questions are has anyone else been in a similar situation? Is it worth appealing against there decision? Any help or advise would be much appreciated also I have emailed my local police station and asked them to send me a copy of what’s on the national police database in my name as I feel it’s irrelevant to my life anymore and stopping me from getting jobs, I’m going to try and get them to delete it.

I would recommend that you check out the information on the websites of https://unlock.org.uk/ or https://www.nacro.org.uk/ whch have lots of information about when / how different covictions become spent and no longer have to be decalred and issues with finding work as an ex offender. 

Assuming that your conviction wasn't violent or sexual and didn't involve a priosn sentance, it is likely  that it will now nbe 'spent' which means that you won't have to declare itfor most jb applications, and that it wn't show up on a nrmal DBS check.

However, there are various exceptions to the standard rules, for some types ofjob, all convitons, however old, must be dsiclsoed.

Normally these are for jobs where you work with vulnerable groups (childnre, patients, prisoners), for jobs within the jusitice system (police, law) or where there might be specifc reasons a coniction would be relevant (accountnacy, working as a gunsmith etc) 

In those cases, having historic convictions won't automatically mean that you can't get a job, but it will have to be dsiclosed (as an example, a friend of mine got a law degree as a mature student in their 30s. When they applied to be admitted as a member of the Law Society, they had to declare that they had a conviction for fare-dodging as a 6 year old. They had to go and have a personal interview to asses whether they were a fit and proper person to become a lawyer, and were admitted) 

I suspect that in your case, the issue is probably that you lied about your onviction rather than that you had the caution (depending on what it related to) If you were very young (14 or 15 ) and it was a caution then they might accept that you weren't aware  and didn't deliberately lie, but th only people who can tell you is the orgaisation you applied to. 

I doubt that appealing would make any difference - in my experience, normally the forms are pretty specifc so I thinkclaiming you didn't think you had to discloe it would get you very far, although it might be worth asking whether having failed on this occassion  it would prevent you re-applying in future.

Moving forward, the key is to read the forms carefull, and also to check your own record so you know whther the conviction is spent or not (if it is, you don't have to disclose unless the job is one which is exepmpt from the Rehabilitiation of Offenders Act) and so that if you are applying for a job which is exempt that you do disclose it. 

Both of the organisations I linked to work with ex offenders and may be able to offer you more specifc information and divce if you need it.  

marmite1979

The role the sector and position determines what you need to declare on an application. Some offences and convictions might stay on your record need to be declared others will not. 
What's important is that you read and understand the application and I'd say there are certain sectors that will require all sentences and convictions to be listed.