The government of Bermuda, a British Overseas Territory, will issue new guidance on the use of police cautions as an alternative to prosecution for minor criminal allegations.

Police Caution have been in use in England and Wales for decades and are used as an out of court disposal option designed to provide quick and expedient justice and diverts minor offenders from Court and thereby saves governments funds.

The changes will permit the Director of Public Prosecutions to provide guidance to any officer ranked as inspector or higher with regards to the issuing of formal police cautions as an alternative to a formal prosecution. The Bermudan Office of the DPP believes that cautions are appropriate for first-time and low-level offenders who admit guilt when talking to police.

Michael Dunkley, the Premier of Bermuda, has said he hoped to see a reduction in “unnecessary criminalisation” as a result of an amendment to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

Mr Dunlley said “Cautions have a number of intersecting goals, which make them a win-win all around.

“They allow the police to give an offender a ‘second chance’, so to speak, where circumstances warrant it.

“By avoiding going to the courts, we hope to reduce unnecessary criminalisation. No conviction will also mean no criminal record for first-time offenders. This has the added benefit of saving time and resources when it comes to dealing with offenders; police officers, prosecutors and magistrates won’t have to waste valuable time on cases which really are not appropriate for a full-scale prosecution.”

Source: The Royal Gazette, Bermuda

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If you have been issued with a police caution then we are able to help. You may be finding that the caution is having a more serious impact on your life than you were led to believe it would have.

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A children’s charity has expressed concern that police are issuing too many cautions for possession of indecent images of children instead of prosecuting. Northumbria police revealed it issued cautions in respect of 94 offenders.

The figures were obtained by BBC Newcastle, who found police have issued more than 160 cautions to people for possession of indecent images of children over the past five years.

They asked five forces in the North East, Cumbria and North Yorkshire how many cautions they had given out since 2011.

In comparison to Northumbria’s 94 cautions, Durham Police issued 40 cautions, North Yorkshire 13, Cleveland 11 and Cumbria 10.

But a charity which supports victims of abuse said the “high usage” of cautions was “concerning”.

Gabrielle Shaw from the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) which helps people recovering from childhood abuse, said: “Behind every indecent image of a child is a picture of a crime scene.

“The high usage of cautions shown by these figures is concerning.

“Generally a caution for downloading indecent images of children isn’t enough, particularly if you look at the public interest element.

Donald Findlater from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, which works with people worried about their sexual interest in children, however said there were situations in which a caution would be “the right response”.

He said: “For example, if the person that’s accessed sexual images of anyone perhaps 14 or 15 years of age is themselves 16, 17, 18, the police might decide a caution is an adequate response.

“It doesn’t happen that often though; the number of people given cautions for this type of behaviour is small compared to those who are charged for this kind of behaviour.”

Source: Sunderland Echo

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If you have been issued with a police caution then we are able to help. You may be finding that the caution is having a more serious impact on your life then you were led to believe at the police station.

You may have only admitted the offence to avoid going to Court or that you were told it was just a slap on the wrists.

If you have received a police caution and would like to discuss getting it removed then please get in touch.

We can also assist if you are on the barred list or need to appeal a DBS certificate.