Conditional Caution - Legisia Archives

What is a Conditional Caution?

Matt Elkins — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 22:18:49 +0000

A conditional caution is an out of court disposal (OOCD) issued by the police. It is in essence an alternative to a prosecution where the case may be relatively minor and where the police/CPS feel it is appropriate.

If a condition is not complied with, and there is no reasonable excuse, then a prosecution can be commenced for the original offence(s).

A caution not only prevents a suspect from having to go to court, but it also saves the government a significant amount of money.

Conditional cautions were originally introduced in 2003, but have been used in a very limited capacity. Often police forces would prefer to issue a simple police caution (or other OOCD), which does not involved the monitoring of conditions.

There has however recently been a push to review the issuing of police cautions; generally due to the perception that simple cautions were being issued too often and suspects were effectively “getting away with it”.

Also there was a feeling that there were too many different types of out of court disposals.

Is a caution a slap on the wrists?

A caution is not in reality just a slap on the wrists, as they are retained on the PNC until a data subject reaches 100 years of age, they can be disclosed in subsequent criminal proceedings, during immigration checks, and on standard and enhanced DBS checks.

Despite these implications, in 2014 Chris Graying, who was Justice Secretary at the time, announced a plan revamp the out of court disposal system with a plan to end PNDs, cannabis warnings and simple cautions and to introduce a two-tier OOCD system. The lowest tier being community resolutions, and for more serious offending, a suspended prosecutions, aka conditional cautions.

Police in Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and Leicestershire trialed the new two-tier system, with the resultant report being published in 2018.

With respect to costs, the two-tier pilot found that it cost 70% more to implement the new two-tier system. Essentially the increased cost was due to the additional monitoring that was required for community resolutions and conditional cautions.

There was also no evidence that showed the two-tier systems helped to reduce re-offending; re-offending within the following three months of an OOCD being issued was at 5% in both the two-tier trial and under the current system.

NPCC Two-Tier Out of Court Disposals (OOCD)

Despite the findings the NPCC have introduced a new two-tier national strategy. The National Strategy has not been put into a formal legislative footing due to Brexit, namely there has been no parliamentary time, but the policy is implemented as policing strategy.

As there is currently no legislative support for the strategy, and so no additional funding to sustain the new system, the NPCC have stated that police forces will implement the two-tier strategy “when it is operationally and financially viable within each force area.”

What this means is that simple cautions, PND and cannabis warnings may continue to be issued, particularly where a police force has limited resources and an inability to devote the extra resources to supervising conditional cautions/community resolutions.

For hard pressed police forces, of which there are many, conditional cautions have not historically been used given they are an extra drain on precious police resources. Without extra funding being put in place it is difficult to see all police’s forces rushing to adopt the new two-tier framework. If they do, it is possible officers will only impose conditions that require the least amount of supervision i.e. a letter of apology and/or a fine.

When can a conditional caution be issued?

A conditional caution can be issued for minor offences by the police, but for more serious offences they must get permission from the CPS.

In hate crime cases, or for domestic violence cases, a conditional caution will not generally be considered but they can be offered if approved by the CPS.

Conditional cautions can also be issued for “relevant foreign offenders” with the aim of securing the departure of the offender from the UK rather than incurring the cost of prosecuting that person.

Conditions imposed must be proportion, appropriate and achievable – in our experience the conditions our clients have been imposed have always been limited to the writing of an apology letter, and the paying of a fine.

Conditions are usually expected to be completed within 16 weeks, and no longer than 20 weeks (although may be longer in relation to foreign offenders) – most cases we have seen have a requirement to comply within 8 – 12 weeks.

I don’t agree with my conditional caution, should I comply with its terms?

Although each case will be unique, and you will need to take specific advice on your case if you wish to challenge your conditional caution, we would as a general rule advise anyone to comply with the terms of their conditional caution once it has been issued.

If you do not comply with the terms of your conditional caution you run a very real risk of being prosecuted at court, which would obviously be worse than your caution. A prosecution at court may result in conviction, and a possible prison sentence.

Can I Challenge a Conditional Caution?

It is possible to challenge a conditional caution, this can be done by direct appeal to the police, via the NPCC’s early deletion process, via High Court judicial review proceedings, possibly the ICO, or a combination of these processes.

It will very much depend on the facts of your case, but critically if you believe you are innocent, and you feel you were railroaded into accepting a conditional caution, then you may have a case to have your conditional caution deleted.

How long does a conditional caution last?

A conditional caution on a basic DBS check will become spent after 3 months if the conditions last 3 months or more, or on the date the conditions end if the conditions last less than 3 months.

With respect to a standard and enhanced DBS checks, a conditional caution will be automatically disclosed for 6 years, after which it will become “protected” (data protected) and will no longer be disclosed. The conditional caution will however continue to be disclosed if the offence is on list of more serious offences, in which case it will be permanently disclosed.

Examples of offences that appear on the list of more serious offences are ABH, affray and child cruelty/neglect.

Also a conditional caution can continue to be disclosed as “relevant information” on an enhanced DBS check after 6 years even if the offence is not on the serious offences list.

What is a youth conditional caution?

Youth conditional cautions are in essence the same as adult conditional cautions in that they are also suspended prosecutions. Two differences are however that a youth offender is supervised by the Youth Offending Team (YOT) and foreign offender conditions are not available for youths.

Youth cautions, warnings and reprimands are immediately “protected” subsequent to changes implemented by the government in November 2020. This means that even for offences that appear on the DBS list of unfilterable offences, they will not be automatically be disclosed on an enhanced and standard DBS check. It should be noted however despite the changes, it is still possible for facts related to youth cautions, warnings or reprimands to still be disclosed on an enhanced DBS certificate if the police feel the information is “relevant”.

Police Caution Deletion Solicitor

If you have been issued with any form of Out of Court Disposal (OOCD) then please get in touch. We have many years of experience of applying for the deletion of a wide range of OOCD’s including simple police cautions, conditional cautions, PNDs, community resolutions, Harassment PINs and cannabis warnings.

Along with deleting OOCDs we also have extensive experience of applying for the deletion of local police records from the Police National Database (PND) and other local police systems.

In addition we also have extensive experience of challenging DBS barring applications, and disclosures on enhanced DBS checks.

We offer fixed fees in most cases, initial instruction is via a fixed fee consultation.

The post What is a Conditional Caution? appeared first on Police Caution Removal Solicitors.

Police Caution Deleted

Matt Elkins — Wed, 03 May 2017 09:26:45 +0000

We have again removed a police caution for a health care professional. The caution had been issued in relation to a domestic incident.

On the face of it the client had accepted the caution and the police had undertaken their investigation correctly. On closer examination however, we were able to uncover defects with the investigation, and the police caution procedure, which rendered the caution unlawful.

After making representations to the police, they agreed to expunge the client’s caution and biometric data.

Yes!!!! Thank you very very much !!!

The police will routinely issue police cautions for minor domestic incidents, and for the police, a caution is often seen as a light touch response to an incident. The reality can however be far worse than a simple “slap on the wrists” as cautions can, and do, have long term consequences.

All police cautions will be disclosable on a standard or enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate for at least 6 years; for more serious offences, a caution will be disclosed forever.

Police Caution Removal Solicitors

It is possible to challenge, and successful expunge, a police caution. We have had significant success over the years in deleting police cautions, including youth warnings and reprimands (now called youth cautions) and also conditional cautions.

DSB Barring Decisions

Along with the disclosure consequences of caution, often once a police investigation and police disposal has been undertaken, this will trigger a barring investigation by the Disclosure and Barring Service. If you have received a minded to bar letter from the Disclosure and Barring Service, then please get in touch. We have successfully resisted and overturned DBS barring decisions in the past.

Arrest Records

If you have simply been arrested and interviewed, without any formal police caution, namely you were released with no further action (NFA) then you may find, to your surprise, that this information is nevertheless showing up on an enhanced DBS certificate.

The law gives broad powers to the police and DBS to disclose information on an enhanced DBS certificate where there are concerns raised related to children and vulnerable adults – this is especially so where the allegation involved serious violence or sexual abuse.

Along with having police cautions expunged, we have successfully applied in the past to have arrest records, biometric data, custody photos and local police records deleted.

Police Caution, Arrest Records and DBS Appeals Solicitor

Please get in touch today to discuss your case. We can usually offer reasonable fixed fees; regrettably we do not offer our services under legal aid.

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Is a police caution a criminal record?

Matt Elkins — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 21:22:50 +0000

Is a police caution a criminal record? The short answer to this question is yes – a caution is a criminal record. However what actually constitutes a “criminal record” is not a precisely defined concept, and the better question to ask is, in what circumstances will my caution be disclosed?

A caution will become an issue for someone depending on who is asking the question, and the powers they have to ask about previous criminal records.

A caution is “spent” immediately (or after three months, or when the conditions run out, in respect of a conditional caution). So for the purposes of a Basic DBS certificate a police caution (sometimes known as a simple caution), will not be disclosed.

For other people however, who need to undertake a trusted/regulated role, then the caution will have more significant implications. For more details please see our article here: How long does a police caution stay on your record?

Deletion of Arrest Records for Rape Allegations

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Enforced Subject Access, Criminal Records & Overseas Employment

Removing a Police Caution for Assault or ABH

What are the new Diversionary and Community Cautions and how will they affect you?

Will a police caution affect a visa to the US or China?

How to Delete Your Local Police Records

How to Remove a Police Caution from the PNC

Police Caution Removal & Batman | Achieving a Clean Slate

The post Is a police caution a criminal record? appeared first on Police Caution Removal Solicitors.

How long does a police caution stay on your record?

Matt Elkins — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 11:22:23 +0000

The answer to the question “How long does a police caution stay on your record?” depends on who is asking the question.

The answer will be different depending on the level of disclosure that can be lawfully requested by the organisation who is asking the question. On a basic disclosure a caution (youth and adult) is spent immediately and will not show up.

A conditional police caution will be spent once the conditions end or after 3 months, whichever is sooner. A caution however will show up for longer periods of time on Standard and Enhanced DBS certificates and in some cases may be disclosed forever. A police caution will also have an impact on a police certificate, which are issued for the purposes of immigration.

Standard DBS Certificates

How long does a police caution stay on your record with respect to a Standard DBS Certificate?

On a Standard DBS certificate a police caution will show up for at least 6 years.

NB, November 2020 edit: Youth cautions, warnings and reprimands are immediately “protected” subsequent to changes implemented by the government. This means that even for offences that appear on the DBS list of unfilterable offences, they will not be automatically be disclosed on an enhanced and standard DBS check. It should be noted however despite the changes, it is still possible for facts related to youth cautions, warnings or reprimands to still be disclosed on an enhanced DBS certificate if the police feel the information is “relevant”.

If your adult caution was for a specified offence it will show up indefinitely on a standard (and enhanced) Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate. Most offences that appear on the proscribed list you would be unlikely to receive a caution for, offences include murder, terrorism and rape. However there are a certain number of offences that are on the specified list that can easily apply to facts that are relatively minor, offences such as Actual Bodily Harm (ABH), child cruelty or burglary. Whilst these offences can at times relate to more serious factual incidents, sometimes cautions can be issues for these offences where the facts are relatively minor. Examples might be causing a minor cut or bruise to someone during a domestic fight, leaving your child unattended for a short period of time or a burglary allegation when a youth and of a low value and type, for example entering an abandoned home and taking something of low value.

Enhanced DBS Certificates

How long does a police caution stay on your record with respect to an Enhanced DBS Certificate?

On an enhanced DBS certificate, a police caution will definitely show up for 6 years, after which it will be protected and will most likely be filtered off of a DBS certificate. If however your caution is for an offence on the proscribed list of offences that never become filtered, then your caution will never become protected and it will always appear on your DBS certificate.

Even if your caution is not for a proscribed list offence and so will be eligible for filtering, the police retain a broad discretion in terms of the information they can disclose on an enhanced DBS certificate. So even of your caution was for a minor common assault, or a minor theft, the police, if they feel the caution reveals facts that are relevant to your job application, then they may disclose relevant facts on your certificate. If information related to your caution is disclosed after the 6 year period, as long as it is not for a proscribed list caution, you may appeal the disclosure of this information.

ACRO Police Certificates

How long does a police caution stay on your record with respect to an ACRO Police certificate?

Along with showing up on DBS checks, a police caution will also show up on police certificate issued by ACRO Criminal Records Office.

The Criminal Records Office issues certificates that are used by UK citizens looking to emigrate to foreign nations.

The Criminal Records Office adopt the “step down” model, as opposed to the filtering process used by the Disclosure and Barring Service. The step down process removes cautions from a certificate after certain periods of time. A serious caution will be removed after 10 years, a caution for a more minor offence will be removed after 5 years.

Even if a caution is stepped down, your certificate will still give an indication to a foreign nation that you have at least been arrested. For someone who has never been arrested, their police certificate will say “no trace”, however if you have been cautioned or convicted, your certificate will most likely say “no live trace”. This will then, at the very least, give the country you wish to immigrate to, an indication that you have had an issue with the law in the past.

Police Caution and Arrest Record Deletion Lawyer

We are specialist police caution removal solicitors and have extensive experience of challenging unlawfully issued police cautions.

We are often also instructed to challenge arrest records and have had numerous PNC records deleted for our clients.

In addition, if you feel information has been unfairly disclosed on your DBS certificate, then we will be able to help.

We also defend against DBS barring decisions (formerly list 99) and appeal DBS barring decisions that have already been made.

The post How long does a police caution stay on your record? appeared first on Police Caution Removal Solicitors.

Is a Caution a Criminal Conviction?

Matt Elkins — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 00:07:14 +0000

If you have been offered or received a caution, you may wonder what the precise consequences of accepting a police caution (a simple police caution) are.

Is a Caution a Criminal Conviction?

A frequently asked question is whether a police caution is a criminal conviction. The short answer is no; a caution is not a criminal conviction. A caution, although not considered a criminal conviction, carries significant consequences – particularly if you hope to work in a trusted/regulated profession.

What are the Consequences of Accepting a Police Caution?

If you accept a simple police caution, it will be “spent” immediately (a conditional caution is spent after 3 months). In that case, a simple police caution will not be disclosed on a basic background check (undertaken by Disclosure Scotland).

If, however, you work in a regulated sector, then the caution will have longer-term impacts. Also, if you hope to live or work abroad the caution may cause difficulties.

The Police Caution and the PNC

When you are given a police caution, or even if you are simply arrested with no further action being taken (NFA), the police will create a Police National Computer (PNC) record for you. A PNC record will record your details, including your name, aliases, date of birth, address, date of arrest, offence and the outcome of your case.

If the police are asked to undertake a check on you, they will first check the PNC against your details. If you hope to work or live abroad, you will need a “police certificate” that checks against the PNC.

A police caution will be stepped down from a police certificate after certain periods have elapsed, more serious offences will be stepped down off a certificate only after a longer period of time.

Even though a police caution may not be disclosed on a police certificate after the relevant step down period has elapsed, the certificate will usually state “no live trace” instead of “no trace” if you had never been arrested/cautioned/convicted. This will give an indication to a foreign nation that you have previously been arrested/cautioned/convicted for something. If their domestic policies require full disclosure, they may then ask you for an interview and/or ask you to obtain your full police file so they can review your case.

There is a good argument to say that the no live trace policy on police certificates creates an anomaly when compared to domestic disclosure rules, namely, the disclosure rules in respect of disclosing criminal records to a foreign nation affords less protection to UK citizens than they do on the domestic level to employers and regulatory bodies.

Police Cautions and Enhanced and Standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Certificates

Although a simple police caution will not show up on a basic check, a caution will show up on both a standard and an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate.

Certain cautions will become protected after 6 years, come off of a standard certificate, and most likely will not appear on an enhanced check. Offences such as common assault, low-level theft or public order will be protected after 6 years.

Certain police cautions, however, will never become protected. Cautions for what are considered to be more serious offences, such as burglary, actual bodily harm (ABH), child cruelty or sexual assault, will never become protected and will always be disclosed on both a standard or enhanced DBS certificate.

Arrest Records and Protected Cautions on Enhanced Background Checks

The police can disclose a wide range of information on an enhanced DBS check. If the police feel it is relevant to a role you are applying for, they may disclose arrest records or information related to a police caution.

Police cautions may, therefore, impact your career even after 6 years, even if the caution you received was relatively minor. Even arrest records can be disclosed on an Enhanced DBS certificate – namely, allegations that never resulted in a charge, caution, nor conviction.

Police Cautions Removal Solicitors and DBS Specialists

We are specialist police caution removal (expungement) solicitors, and we have significant experience in challenging unlawful police cautions and having them removed (expunged) from the PNC.

We also have extensive experience in challenging the unfair disclosure of information on enhanced DBS certificates.

In addition, we are often instructed to apply to remove arrest records from the PNC. It may be the case that your arrest was unlawful so your record on the PNC should be deleted.

If you are worried about immigration to the US, we have professional contacts with attorneys from the United States with extensive experience in US immigration law and procedure.

Please get in touch to discuss your case with our specialist police caution and arrest record solicitors. We often offer our services at fixed fees. We regret that we can not offer our services under legal aid.

The post Is a Caution a Criminal Conviction? appeared first on Police Caution Removal Solicitors.

Challenging a Police Caution

Matt Elkins — Sun, 27 Nov 2016 21:13:34 +0000

You may be wondering whether it is possible to get a caution, including a conditional caution or youth caution, removed, or perhaps simply you have an arrest record that you would like expunged (deleted).

It could be that your caution, or arrest record, is showing up on your standard or enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service DBS (formerly CRB) certificate. If so, the disclosure of your criminal record information may be hampering, or preventing altogether, your professional career.

Police caution how long do they last?

You may be wondering how long a police caution will last on your record, the answer is, it will depend on what type of DBS check you need, the type of offence you received your caution for, and what type of job you are going for.

If you are only required to provide a standard DBS certificate, then your caution will usually be filtered off a standard certificate after 6 years (since changes to the law implemented in 2013).

If however you have a caution for an offence on the prescribed list of offences, then your caution will always be disclosed on any level of DBS certificate (enhanced or standard). Therefore, unless you are able to have your caution deleted, if your caution is for an offence on the prescribed list, then the caution will never become “protected” and will never be filtered from your DBS certificate. N.B. 2019 edit, Disclosure with respect to youth reprimands/warnings/cautions are subject to revision by the government.

The DBS publish a long list off offences that appear on the prescribed list. Cautions for these offence will never become filtered from any DBS certificate.

Most offences on the DBS prescribed list are of a serious nature and you would be very unlikely to receive a caution for a great many of the offences on the list; also changes brought about in 2015 means there is now a greater level of scrutiny by the police if a caution is going to be issued for a serious allegation and may only be issued in exceptional circumstances.

Typically, a proscribed list caution will be for actual bodily harm (ABH), child cruelty, or sexual assault. Often these types of cautions may relate to facts that might be relatively minor, however owing to a decision made be the police officers/CPS, a prescribed list caution is issued. A prescribed list caution can have a devastating impact on a professional career.

How to Challenge a Police Caution?

If you have been issued with a caution, youth caution, conditional caution, for an offence either on the prescribed list or not, we can help you challenge the retention of the caution.

There are many things that can go wrong at the police station that might have made your caution unfair, perhaps you were unfairly pressed into accepting a caution, the consequences of the caution were minimised (“it’s just a slap on the wrists”), or you never admitted the allegation.

In the first instance we will always fight to remove your caution without the need for costly court proceeding; however if court becomes necessary, we have extensive experience of challenge police cautions and arrest records via judicial review proceedings.

We have overturned many police cautions and have extensive experience of making representations to a wide range of police forces across the country.

DBS Certificates and Barred list Appeals

Along with challenging unfairly issued police cautions, we also have extensive experience of challenging DBS decisions to bar and/or applying for the removal of a barring decision .

The DBS have a wide discretion when placing someone on the barred list, or retaining a barring decision in place; we have extensive experience of the law and procedure in this specialised area of law and have had many clients prevented from being barred.

If you have received a DBS notice to bar letter then please get in touch, it is important that you act promptly – if you fail to make representations then the DBS may automatically bar you from your chosen profession.

DBS Filtering

If it is not possible to delete your caution, and it is not on the prescribed list, it will become “protected” after 6 years and, generally, will be filtered according to DBS rules.

If however you are required to undertake an enhanced DBS certificate check, then it is possible that information related to your caution could still be disclosed on your certificate if it is deemed relevant to the role you are applying.

We have acted for many clients in making representations to the DBS to remove information from an enhanced DBS certificate relating to an arrest or caution, and have successfully removed such records so that employers do not become aware of unfavorable past criminal record information.

Police Cautions Solicitors

Please get in touch today to discuss your case, we can usually offer reasonable fixed fees.

* Click Here for the Proscribed List Offences

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