If you have received a police caution, you may be wondering if it can be overturned.
The simple answer to this question is that a police caution can be overturned, but it will depend on the circumstances.
If your caution has been unfairly issued, for example the police have unfairly pressured you into accepting a caution, or where you did not admit to the allegation, then you may have a good case to have your caution overturned.
How do you get a caution expunged?
In the first instance you will need to apply to the police to have your caution overturned. You will need to set out your case in detail, explaining why it is, according to the law, that you think your caution is unlawful.
The police will consider your case, and provide you their decision. The person deciding your case will usually be officers/lawyers who were entirely separate from your original case.
If the police refuse to delete your caution, you can then appeal. If this appeal is refused, then you can consider appealing your case to the Administrative Court (the Administrative Court is a specialist Court within the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court).
How long will it take to overturn a police caution?
How long it takes to decide a case does depend largely on the police force concerned. Some police forces take much longer than others to come to a decision. Also the more complex your case, then generally this will have a knock on effect on how long it takes the police to decide.
Sometimes the police might feel they need independent legal advice, and will seek advice from specialist solicitors or barristers, which will make your case take longer.
How will a caution show on a DBS certificate?
Whether a caution shows on a DBS certificate will depend on the type of caution you have, when you received it, and the level of DBS check you need.
Please use our Police Caution Calculator to see whether your caution will show up on a DBS certificate.
What will happen once my Police Caution is Overturned?
If you have a police caution this can also cause issues with respect to UK citizenship applications, as well as overseas immigration.
If you have a police caution recorded on the PNC it will show up on an ACRO Police Certificate for either 5 or 10 years, depending on the offence, and then will become “stepped down”. Once a caution is stepped down, a police certificate will state “no live trace” – if you have no record at all, your record will state “no trace”.
A “no live trace” record can cause issues with immigration, as once an embassy sees a no live trace record, they will often enquire into the full circumstances of your record held on the PNC.
Overturning a Police Caution and Immigration
What it actually means to have a caution overturned, is that your caution will be deleted from the Police National Computer (PNC).
The police may completely remove your record from the PNC, or they may change your record to state No further Action (NFA), the outcome will depend on the facts and circumstances of your case.
When you are investigated by the police, along with potentially creating records on the PNC, the police will also create locally held police records. Even if you did not receive a police caution, these local records can still be disclosed on an enhanced DBS certificate as “relevant information”, depending on the circumstances. For more details about local police records, then please see here: Local Police Records and the Police National Database (PND).
Police Caution Removal Solicitor
We have extensive experience in applying for the deletion of police cautions in relation to many different police forces.
Please see here some of successful cases: Police Caution Removal Example Cases.
Also see here the reviews from our satisfied customers: Police Caution Removal Reviews.
In most cases we offer fixed fees, unfortunately we do not offer legal aid.
Please get in touch to arrange an initial consultation