How to get a police caution removed?

If you have received a caution, you may be wondering how to get a police caution removed.

The best way to have a police cautioned removed, is to try to persuade the police that the caution was unlawfully issued.

How to get a police caution removed will depend on the facts of a case. If you have freely admitted an allegation, and the police have abided by the law, then it may be difficult, but not impossible, to get your police caution removed.

Although it may be hard to get a police caution removed where the police have not broken the law, we have had considerable success in removing police cautions in such circumstances.

You may be wondering how much it will cost to remove a police caution, we discuss this in detail in another article here: Police Caution Removal Cost

Generally speaking, you can apply to get your police caution removed yourself, however it is advisable for you to be familiar with the law and police procedures before doing so. If you are unsure about the law, and do not want to deal with the police yourself, we have years of successful experience in the deletion of police cautions and other police records.

If you feel that the police have unfairly given you a police caution, for example because you feel you did not admit the allegation, or you were bullied into accepting the caution, then you may have a good case to argue for the deletion of your caution.

You will appreciate in any legal case, even if you know something to be true, it is also important that you are able to prove your case. If you are wondering what makes a strong case, and how you would be able to prove your case to the police, we can help.

When you apply to the police to remove a police caution, you will need to consider what a judge might think about your case. Although you may have no intention of taking your case to the Administrative Court for judicial review proceedings, you will need to consider what to say to the police in the event your case did go to court. This way you will present your case in a reasonable and legally sound manner, which will maker it harder for the police to ignore. If your application is framed in a way that is aggressive, rude or unreasonable, you are going to be much less likely to find favour with the police, and ultimately the court, if it goes that far.

In applying to remove your police caution, you may not need to issue court proceedings, as the police may agree to the deletion. In all cases it is best to avoid having to take your case to court, and we always aim to avoid court for every client. Court proceedings can be very uncertain and can entail significant costs. Whenever we are asked how we can remove a police caution in a particular case, we first always consider how we can have the caution removed, without having to resort to court.

In rare cases where court is unavoidable, to date we have always won, and managed to get our client’s costs back.

As we have experience of hundreds of police caution removal cases, we will be able to tell you at an early stage if you have a good prospect of success. If we believe you have a good case, we will be able to ensure that you do not make any mistakes in your appeal, to maximise your prospects of success.

Equally, if we assess your case early, and believe you do not have a good prospect of success, we will tell you so that you avoid wasting your valuable time and money. We can then advise you on the best way to manage your life and career going forward, so that your caution will impact you as minimally as possible.

When you get your police caution removed it will mean that it has been deleted from the Police National Computer (PNC). The police may leave an arrest record on the PNC, but typically they will also delete your arrest record. Once deleted you will be “no trace” on the PNC, which will have positive implications for both a DBS certificate, and an ACRO Police Certificate.

If you are unsure on how your caution will impact you, you can check our police caution calculator here: How long does a caution stay on your DBS?

If your caution is removed from the PNC, then there probably will also be locally held police records. Most often these records do not cause issues, but can sometimes cause issues on enhanced DBS checks, depending on the case. You can also apply to have these records deleted/restricted, but the rules and procedures are different to police caution removal. We have significant experience in applying for the deletion of locally held police records, or appealing their disclosure on enhanced DBS certificates.

We have extensive experience in applying for the deletion of police cautions, we believe we are the most experienced and successful practice in this field. We are the only legal practice, headed by a qualified solicitor, that specialises in police records deletion, and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) appeals.

All cases are conducted on a fixed fee basis; please get in touch if you need expert police caution removal representation.