How to Remove a Police Caution from the PNC

A police caution is a formal warning that can be given by the police to anyone who has admitted that they are guilty of a crime. Anyone under 18 will be issued a youth caution, rather than an adult caution. The police can issue a simple caution with no additional requirements, or a conditional caution where the police can impose requirements, such as writing a letter of apology or paying a fine.

A police caution is not a criminal conviction, but it can have serious consequences for your future.

• Criminal Record: A caution will be retained on the Police National Computer (PNC) until you reach 100 years of age (unless you get it deleted). The PNC is the database that stores all criminal records in the UK, including police cautions and arrest records.
• Bad Character Evidence: A police caution can be used as evidence of bad character if you are prosecuted for another crime in the future.
• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS): A caution can prevent you from working. A simple caution will not show on a Basic DBS check, but a conditional caution will show for 3 months on a Basic DBS Certificate. Most cautions will automatically show for 6 years on a Standard or Enhanced DBS check, and then will become “protected” – even after 6 years, the police still retain a discretionary power to disclose facts related to the caution on an Enhanced DBS Certificate. Cautions for specified offences, such as ABH, sexual assault, or child neglect, will show forever on a Standard and an Enhanced DBS check.  For further details on when a police caution will be disclosed, please see our police caution calculator.
• Visas: A police caution may mean that certain countries will deny you a visa, residency or citizenship. As all cautions remain on the PNC until you reach 100 years of age, they can impact travel for the rest of a person’s life. A police caution may cause issues travelling to the United States of America , Canada, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Singapore, China, Australia, New Zealand and other countries.

The process of removing a police caution from the PNC is also known as applying for expungement or deletion. This means that your caution will be erased from the PNC, and you will no longer have to disclose it on job or immigration applications. However, not every caution will be eligible for deletion. You need to meet certain criteria and provide evidence that your caution was given unlawfully or unfairly.

If you have received a police caution, you may want to know how to remove it from the PNC, the database that stores all criminal records in the UK.

For the police to agree to remove a caution there must be compelling reasons. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) set out in their Deletion Guidelines ten general grounds for deletion. These grounds are:

1. Unlawfully Taken – If DNA samples or fingerprints were obtained in violation of legal procedures.
2. Mistaken Identity or Unlawful arrest – If the record was created due to incorrect identification, such as where someone has been cleared after participating in an ID parade.
3. No Crime – If an individual was arrested but no offence occurred. This is not the same as proving your innocence, but is where no crime happened in the first place.
4. Malicious or False Allegation – If credible evidence confirms that the allegation was fabricated, deletion may be granted.
5. Proven Alibi – If an individual can provide corroborative evidence of an alibi which excludes them from the case.
6. Incorrect Disposal – If a caution was issued in error, for example where there was no clear and reliable admission to the allegation, then it should be deleted.
7. Suspect status not clear at the time of the arrest – if the police wrongly classified someone as a suspect, where they are in fact the victim or witness.
8. Judicial Outcome – If a court orders record removal.
9. Another person convicted of the offence – If there is no possibility of there being more than one offender, and someone else is convicted, then the record can be deleted.
10. Public Interest – If retaining the record is contrary to the wider public interest. This can include looking at the seriousness of the allegation, the level of culpability, the person’s age, and their personal circumstances, including mental health factors.

One of the most common grounds for removing a police caution is “incorrect disposal”. To establish that the caution was incorrectly given, you must show that the Ministry of Justice Guidance on police cautions was breached. Before a caution can be issued the police must ensure that:

• There is sufficient evidence to prosecute the accused for the offence.
• The accused must admit that they are guilty of the offence.
• The accused understands the significance of the caution and they must also give their informed consent to being cautioned.
• The police must also respect the law and rules related to detention and custody; significant breaches of these rules may make a caution unlawful.

If any of these conditions were not met, then you may be able to argue that your caution was incorrectly issued. Common examples where a caution might be eligible for deletion are listed below.

• You were under 18 years old when you received your caution and you did not have an appropriate adult present.
• You were under the influence of drugs or alcohol when you received your caution, and you did not understand what you were agreeing to.
• You were coerced or pressured into admitting the allegation or accepting your caution by the police or someone else.
• You were seriously mentally unwell at the time of the incident, or when the caution was issued.
• You were not given adequate legal advice before accepting your caution.
• You were not informed of the consequences of accepting your caution, such as how it would affect your future prospects.
• You were wrongly accused of the offence or there was insufficient evidence against you.
• You received your caution for an offence that is no longer considered a crime.

This list is not comprehensive, and your caution may still be eligible for deletion even if your case does not fit into the listed scenarios. For a comprehensive advice on the particular facts of your case, please contact us to arrange a consultation.

When applying for deletion of a police caution some of the things that should be included are:

• Your full name, date of birth, address and ID.
• The date and location of your caution and the offence for which it was given.
• The ground, or grounds, for deletion.
• The reasons why you believe your caution was unlawful or unfair, with supporting evidence such as witness statements, character references, exhibits, medical records and expert reports if appropriate, relevant previous legal judgments, statutory law, and regulations etc.
• An analysis of interview transcripts if you are disputing your admission.
• An analysis of custody CCTV and/or police body worn footage to see if PACE Guidelines have been breached.
• The impact the caution has had on your life, such as how it has affected your career, your family, education, travel, or personal relationships.

If you are unsure what to include in your police caution deletion application, then as experienced and dedicated solicitors, we will be happy to assist you. We know that receiving a police caution can be a very traumatic and emotional experience. Reliving the event can be difficult, and it may be hard for you to gain a genuine perspective on what happened. We will help you take the stress out of the process, and we will give you a fair and well-informed advice, based on our decades of experience, and hundreds of cases.

Once a caution removal application is submitted, how long it takes to receive a decision will depend on the police force concerned. The process can take months and there is no guarantee that your request will be granted.

Typically the application will be sent to ACRO, who will forward the application to the relevant police force. ACRO themselves do not decide cases; they simply facilitate the process.

Some police forces will take 1 or 2 months to decide, but others will take much longer, sometimes up to 18 months.

If the initial decision is negative, you can appeal the decision within the same police force. The appeal decision may take 1 or 2 months, but it can take a further 12 months, and sometimes longer.

Dependant on the facts, an application can be prioritised, but pushing for a decision is not always appropriate. We will be able to advise you whether it is in your best interests to press the police for a quick decision.

If your request is granted, your caution will be deleted from the PNC. If your request is denied, you will receive a letter from the police explaining why they have rejected your application. If you appeal this decision, and your request is again denied, you have the option of taking your case to judicial review before the Administrative Court, or you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

We have successfully had 100s of cautions removed over the years, and we believe we are the leading legal practice in this field. Most often we are able to persuade the police to remove a caution, but if this is not possible, we have the experience to take your case to court. We would only ever advise a client to take a case to court if there are very strong grounds to do so.

The simple answer to this is no. Each police force has their own particular way of reviewing deletion applications, with some police forces being much stricter than others, depending on the facts and circumstances.

There is no official fee for applying for expungement of a police caution; please see here for our detailed article on the costs involved in deleting a police caution.

You may be eligible for legal aid if you cannot afford to pay for legal advice or representation. Legal aid is a government-funded scheme that helps people who have a low income, or who are on benefits, to access legal services. You can find out if you qualify for legal aid here.

Unfortunately, we do not offer legal aid.

If your police caution is successfully removed from the PNC you will have the many benefits of having a clean criminal record. For example having a clean record can:

• Restore your reputation and confidence, as you will no longer have to worry about being judged or discriminated against because of your past mistake.
• Improve your employment prospects, as you will no longer have to disclose your caution to potential employers or face rejection because of it. You will be able to apply for jobs that require a clean criminal record, such as working with children or vulnerable adults, becoming a health care worker, emergency worker, lawyer or a teacher.
• Enhance your educational opportunities, as you will no longer have to disclose your caution to universities or colleges or face rejection because of it. You will be able to apply for courses that require a clean criminal record, such as medicine, nursing, or social work.
• Expand your travel options, as you will no longer have to disclose your caution to immigration authorities or face refusal because of it. You will be able to work and live in countries that have strict visa requirements or criminal record checks, such as the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Switzerland, China, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
• Protect your privacy and security, as you will no longer have to worry about your caution being accessed or leaked by unauthorised parties, such as hackers or identity thieves.

We believe that given our extensive experience and knowledge in this field, acquired over many years, we can give our clients the edge in their deletion application. We have had hundreds of police cautions removed over the years; please see here to read our many positive reviews.

If you would like to arrange a consultation, then please contact us. We know that discussing a police caution can be stressful; you will find all of us at Legisia are friendly and approachable, and we will provide you with a sympathetic, confidential, and understanding ear.