If you’re exploring the possibility of moving to Saudi Arabia but have a criminal record, including a police caution from the UK, you may face some difficulties. This guide provides insights into how your record might be revealed and when, and how a police caution might affect your ability to travel, work, and live in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia maintains strict immigration policies, often prioritising individuals with clean records. Background checks are standard for those seeking work and residency. The Kingdom values integrity, especially for professionals in sensitive industries, making a criminal record a potential red flag.

If you are traveling to Saudi Arabia for only a short business strip or holiday, a police caution or another criminal record, should not cause you an issue, unless you are a known serious and/or wanted criminal.

Police cautions, while not technically “convictions”, will still appear on background checks and will raise concerns, depending on their nature and severity. Lower-level police cautions will be revealed on a Standard or Enhanced DBS certificate for 6 years, after which they may be disclosed on an Enhanced Certificate. For more serious offences, such as ABH and affray, these records will always be disclosed on a Standard and Enhanced Certificate. For more details on UK DBS Certificates, please see here: Disclosure & Barring Service.

For travel and work in Saudi Arabia, it is unlikely that you will need a DBS Certificate –Saudi authorities will however require an ACRO Police Certificate. If you have a criminal record, your Certificate will reveal your criminal record, either directly or indirectly. For information on how criminal records are disclosed on an ACRO Police Certificate, please visit here: ACRO Police Certificate.

If you do have a criminal record, Saudi authorities will ask you to obtain your subject access report from ACRO – this is essentially a printout of your criminal record, that is held on the PNC.

Most short-term visitors (e.g., for tourism or pilgrimage) may not face detailed scrutiny, unless a person has a record for offences that mean they pose a national security risk.

Employment visas to Saudi Arabia demand thorough vetting. Although your employer may not be able to know about your caution or other criminal record because it is protected under UK rehabilitation laws, because Saudi Arabia is a sovereign nation, they can request any information prior to granting a visa, including asking you to provide a copy of your PNC record. Therefore, via the visa process, an employer based in Saudi Arabia may receive details about a criminal record, even if it is rehabilitated in the UK.

Certain roles in finance, healthcare, law education, and government may have stricter requirements, meaning even minor infractions could hinder job prospects. We have had recent reports from clients that Saudi authorities have become much stricter in their approach to criminal records, including police cautions, and are rejecting visas even where the criminal record is lower level.

Saudi Arabia has a zero-tolerance approach to drugs, and we have found that visas have been rejected due to low level drugs cases. The USA and China are also strict when it comes to criminal records for drugs offences. See our article on this topic here: Will a police caution affect a visa to the US or China?

Applicants for residency permits, similar to work visa applicants, undergo detailed scrutiny. A police caution might not automatically disqualify you, but its implications depend on the discretion of Saudi immigration authorities, and the nature of the incident. As above, we have received recent reports of Saudi Arabia adopting a very strict approach to any form of criminal record.

There are other countries in the Middle East where you may experience problems with a police caution and immigration. If you’re planning to relocate to the UAE (Dubai, Abu Dhabi etc.) Qatar, Oman, or Jordan and you have a criminal record—including a police caution—you may face challenges during the immigration process. Each of these Middle Eastern countries have unique policies when it comes to evaluating past criminal offences.

Although Saudi Arabia is very strict when it comes to certain police cautions, the good news is that you may be able to get your record deleted.

Once your record is deleted, your ACRO Police Certificate will state “no trace” and you will also be cleared from the PNC.

The police may have wrongly issued your caution, or there may be public interest reasons why your caution should be removed. With our experience and expertise we will be able to craft your deletion application to ensure you have the best possibility of success.

We have had hundreds of police cautions and arrest records deleted for clients, including clients who were offered jobs or were looking to reside in Saudi Arabia. Once our clients had their records removed, they were able to successfully apply for their work visas/residency in Saudi Arabia.

Please get in touch today to discuss your case – your police caution does not have to prevent your move to Saudi Arabia.

We offer reasonable fixed fees, and will give you an honest and clear advice on your prospects of success during an initial consultation.

Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) is a criminal offence under Section 47 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. It is an intermediate level of assault, more serious than common assault but less so than Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH). ABH is committed when a person intentionally or recklessly assaults another, causing them physical or psychological harm that is more than transient or trifling.

It is comparatively rare for a caution to be issued for ABH, as opposed to assault by beating, but the police do issue cautions for ABH fairly frequently.

In our experience where a caution for ABH is issued the injuries will be less serious compared to cases that are charged and taken to court. Often where an ABH caution has been issued, the injuries are in fact more consistent with assault by beating.

The injuries classified under ABH can vary widely but must be more than mere superficial injuries like minor cuts or bruises.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will look at the circumstances of a case to see if it is more serious than a simple assault case, such as where there are repeated threats or assaults on the same person, or where there is significant violence. If there has been punching, kicking or head-butting, as opposed to simply pushing or slapping, then ABH will be more likely. Also if a weapon has been used, it is more likely to be considered ABH, but if the injuries are of the most serious nature then GBH/malicious wounding would be considered instead. It would be very rare for a caution to be issued where GBH injuries are present.

ABH injuries include damaged teeth or bones, extensive and severe bruising, cuts requiring suturing, and those that result in a loss of consciousness. If injuries require medical treatment, then that may also indicate ABH injuries. The most serious injuries would be GBH, so where the victim is comatose, or bones are shattered, and there are deep penetrating wounds, then a charge of GBH over ABH will be considered.

Assault by beating, or battery, involves the application of force upon another person without their consent and, without lawful excuse.

Battery is distinguished from common assault; common assault is only placing someone in fear of immediate unlawful force, whereas battery involves the actual application of unlawful force.

Battery is a summary only offence which means it can only be heard before a magistrate’s court (unless charged alongside a more serious offence) and there is a time limit within which it must be charged, or a caution issued.

The term ‘beating’ or battery does not mean the force used must be very significant or forceful, and only minimal amounts of physical force can be covered, including throwing water or spitting at someone. The harm caused can also include psychological injury, but it has to amount to a recognisable psychiatric illness, such as depression – simply causing someone fear is not harm for the purposes of ABH, but may amount to a charge of common assault, or threats to kill, if the victim fears that the threat to kill will be carried out.

Typical injuries where battery will be considered are where there are no more than the following injuries caused:

• Grazes;
• Scratches;
• Abrasions;
• Minor bruising;
• Swellings;
• Reddening of the skin;
• Superficial cuts.

Often the police will start by accusing a suspect of ABH, but the matter will be negotiated down to an assault by beating at the police station, or if charged, at court. The police may even sometimes overstate a case, claiming that it is ABH, in order to put pressure on a suspect to accept a caution, or plead guilty, to the lesser charge of assault by beating.

Although it may often be the case that by dropping a charge to the lesser offence of assault by beating, a suspect will have received a more lenient outcome, sometimes by the police holding out the offer of the lower offence, it might result in an unfair or undesirable outcome. We have seen cases where a suspect has admitted to an assault, simply to avoid being charged or cautioned with ABH, where in fact they were innocent. In such cases we have been able to have the caution overturned, and the client’s PNC record expunged.

The usual defence to ABH, or battery, is self-defence. This can be where a suspect has been actually attacked, but also includes pre-emptive self-defence depending on the circumstances.

A frequent issue that arises in assault cases is where a suspect is intoxicated and cannot recall what happened. In such cases the police will usually have a clear advantage during the police station interview, and will often present evidence that they believe supports the fact that the accused committed the offence. We have however seen cases where the police have omitted to provide an arrestee with relevant evidence, or have failed to follow up on enquiries that revealed the person’s innocence. In such cases we will gather together the evidence that shows the client may have been acting in self-defence, despite not recalling some or all of the incident.

Even in cases where the client is not intoxicated, we have seen a number of cases where clients have simply accepted a caution for assault (battery or ABH) where they knew they had been acting in self-defence, but were so terrified of being in the police station, they simply accepted what the police said, in order to be released from the police station as soon as possible.

ABH is a “specified” offence. What this means for someone who has been issued with a caution for ABH, is that the caution will be permanently disclosable on both a standard and enhanced DBS certificate. Namely the caution will be disclosed for the rest of that person’s life, unless it is deleted from the PNC. Furthermore, if you apply for an enhanced DBS check having received a caution for ABH, it is possible you will be referred for barring by the DBS.

Professionals who have received a caution for ABH will often have significant difficulties in securing employment or may face dismissal from their current roles. Typical professions that will have employment or regulatory difficulties if they have been issued with a caution for ABH or assault will be:

• Legal
• Accountancy
• FCA regulated finance
• Health care professionals including doctors, dentists, psychologists and nurses
• Social workers
• Care workers
• Teachers
• Those who work in roles that need Security Clearance or Developed Vetting
• Anyone working in a regulated role with children or vulnerable adults
• People working in the gambling industry
• Court Staff
• SIA regulated security staff

Often clients, where they have received a caution, will also have associated regulatory proceedings with bodies such as the HCPC, the GDC and GMC – we are able to help clients with these proceedings, alongside getting cautions deleted from the Police National Computer.

Many countries have strict requirements when it comes to criminal records, and a caution for ABH will often cause significant difficulties when applying for a visa or citizenship. An ABH caution will be revealed on an ACRO Police certificate for 5 years, and thereafter as an “no live trace” disclosure. See here for details about the significance of a “no live trace” record.

If you have received a caution for ABH, common assault or battery, and are worried about its consequences, then please get in touch.

We have successfully removed hundreds of cautions for our clients over the years, including many assault and ABH records.

Assault occasioning actual bodily harm, commonly known as ABH, is a more serious form of assault, one step higher than common assault and battery, but less serious than GBH and wounding. For information about common assault and battery, please see our Fact Sheet on the topic: Common Assault and Battery: What is a common assault and battery charge?

ABH was made an offence a long time ago, in 1861, under Section 47 of the Offences Against the Person Act. The section in its current form states as follows:

If you are prosecuted and convicted before a court, the maximum sentence you can receive for ABH is 5 years imprisonment. There is also a racially or religiously aggravated form of ABH, that carries a higher maximum sentence of 7 years imprisonment. If the offence is committed against an emergency worker, such as a police officer or ambulance worker, then the Court is required to treat this as an “aggravating factor” and the sentence will be increased. Similarly, if an offence is committed against a person “providing a public service”, again the offence will be aggravated.

Although it is possible to receive a lengthy prison sentence for ABH, it is in fact possible to receive a police caution for ABH. If the injury caused is a bit more serious than battery, but not very serious, then the police may consider a police caution. For details on what facts might lead to a battery charge, rather than ABH, please see here: What is the difference between battery and ABH.

Yes, you can receive a police caution for ABH. Generally, to receive a caution for ABH, rather than being charged and prosecuted at court, the injuries that have been caused will have to be low level, such as minor cutting and/or some bruising, but not excessive bruising.

We have seen cautions being issued for broken or knocked out teeth, but this is very rare – where permanent injuries are caused, or broken bones or serious bruising is inflicted, an ABH or even GBH/wounding charge and prosecution will likely be preferred by the police and CPS, over a caution.

In order for the police to issue a caution for ABH, you must first admit to the allegation, which will mean you will need to accept that you either intentionally or recklessly caused the complainant to sustain unlawful personal violence, and that the assault resulted in actual bodily harm.

The dividing line between ABH and GBH is not always clear, but GBH and wounding injuries are of the most serious nature, whereas ABH injuries will fall between the most serious injuries, and more minor injuries classified as a battery.

ABH injuries can include more serious cuts and bruising, but less than shattered bones, severe internal injuries, and deep penetrating wounds. “Bodily harm” includes any hurt or injury calculated to interfere with the health or comfort of the complainant. Actual injury does not need to be permanent, but must be more than merely “transient or trifling”. It can include a momentary loss of consciousness, but placing someone in a coma, would more likely result in a wounding/GBH charge. ABH can include psychiatric injury, but this must be proven by an expert and excludes simple distress/anguish.

ABH can also be charged were someone creates a set of circumstances knowing that an injury is likely to result – in a notable case, DPP v Santa-Bermudez, the Court found a defendant guilty were a police officer, having been told by a defendant that there was nothing sharp in his pocket, then went on to prick her finger on a needle whilst conducting a search of the defendant’s pockets.

Where something can be reasonably foreseen as the natural consequences of a defendant’s actions, they will be held liable for them. For example, in the case of R v Roberts, the accused had made unwanted sexual advances to the complainant when they were travelling in his car. He told her about his sexual exploits and of how he had used force on women in the past. He then attempted to remove her clothing and the complainant, being terrified, jumped from the moving car resulting in ABH injuries being caused.

As you can receive a lengthy prison sentence for ABH, it is a serious offence. Also, if you receive a caution or conviction for ABH, you will find it very difficult to enter or remain in any form of trusted and regulated profession. Your ABH caution or conviction will be permanently disclosable on an enhanced and standard DBS certificate.

If the police and CPS decide that your case is too serious for a police caution, then you will be charged and brought before a court.

If you are found guilty, the court will then use their sentencing guidelines to determine whether your case is: High Culpability, Medium Culpability or Low Culpability.

A High Culpability case is where there is:

• Significant degree of planning or premeditation
• Victim obviously vulnerable due to age, personal characteristics or circumstances
• Use of a highly dangerous weapon or weapon equivalent
• Strangulation/suffocation/asphyxiation
• Leading role in group activity
• Prolonged/persistent assault

A Low Culpability case is where there is:

• No weapon used
• Excessive self defence
• Impulsive/spontaneous and short-lived assault
• Mental disorder or learning disability, where linked to the commission of the offence

After the Court has determined the level of culpability, the court will then need to determine the level of harm caused. These are again placed into three categories:

• Category 1

Serious physical injury or serious psychological harm and/or substantial impact upon victim

• Category 2

Harm falling between categories 1 and 3

• Category 3

Some level of physical injury or psychological harm with limited impact upon victim

The court will then need to determine a starting point sentence based on the level of harm and culpability, which are set out in the guidelines, and then specify the sentence up or down from that point, within that particular range. So, for cases where the harm is at a category 3 level, and the culpability is low, the starting point sentence is a medium level community order with a range of sentences from a band B fine to 26 weeks’ imprisonment. For a high culpability case, where the harm is in category 1, then the starting point sentence is 2 years 6 months’ imprisonment, with a range of 1 year 6 months’ – 4 years’ imprisonment.

Factors that might increase the seriousness of an ABH case are:

• Previous relevant convictions
• Committing the offence whilst on bail
• Assault based on hostility due to the victims disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity
• Deliberate spitting or coughing
• Offence committed against those working in the public sector or providing a service to the public or against a person coming to the assistance of an emergency worker
• Offence committed in prison (where not taken into account as a statutory aggravating factor)
• Offence committed in a domestic context
• History of violence or abuse towards victim by offender
• Presence of children
• Gratuitous degradation of victim
• Abuse of power and/or position of trust
• Any steps taken to prevent the victim reporting an incident, obtaining assistance and/or from assisting or supporting the prosecution
• Commission of offence whilst under the influence of alcohol/drugs
• Offence committed whilst on licence or subject to post sentence supervision
• Failure to comply with current court orders

Factors that might reduce the seriousness are:

• No previous convictions or no relevant/recent convictions
• Remorse
• Good character and/or exemplary conduct
• Significant degree of provocation
• History of significant violence or abuse towards the offender by the victim
• Age and/or lack of maturity
• Mental disorder or learning disability, where not linked to the commission of the offence
• Sole or primary carer for dependent relative(s)
• Determination and/or demonstration of steps taken to address addiction or offending behaviour
• Serious medical conditions requiring urgent, intensive or long-term treatment

ABH is a specified offence for the purposes of the Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 18 – this means that for regulated roles where an enhanced or standard DBS check is required a caution or conviction for ABH will be permanently disclosable. If you have received a caution for ABH it may be possible to have this caution deleted from the PNC, depending on the circumstances.

If your caution or conviction is not deleted or overturned, it will remain on the PNC until you reach 100 years of age.

Yes, ABH will come up on a DBS check, but it will depend on the level of check, and what your sentence was. For standard and enhanced DBS checks any caution or conviction for ABH will show up indefinitely.

If you do not work in a regulated sector, and you only need a basic DBS certificate, your record will show up according to the basic DBS check disclosure rules.

The typical defence to an ABH charge will be self-defence. For details about defences to assault generally, including consent, child chastisement, and assaulting a trespasser, see here: General Defences to Assault.

If you have been issued with a police caution for ABH, common assault, battery, or any other offence, we can help you.

We have had hundreds of cautions removed over the years, including for ABH.

We will be able to provide you with expert representation, at an affordable fixed fee.

If you would like an initial conversation with our friendly and approachable office manager Myriam, then please get in touch.

If you have ever been involved in a minor criminal offence, such as shoplifting, assault, public order issues, criminal damage, or drug possession, you may have been offered an out of court disposal (OOCD) by the police. An OOCD is a way of dealing with low-level offending without going to court, which can save time and money for both the police and the offender. However, the government concluded that the current OOCD system was complex and inconsistent, with six different types of disposals available, such as community resolutions, penalty notices for disorder (PNDs), and conditional cautions. This was claimed to have caused confusion and variation in how different police forces use them and how they affect someone’s criminal record.

To address these alleged issues, the government has introduced a new statutory two-tier framework of OOCDs, which will replace the existing ones. The new framework consists of two types of cautions: the Diversionary Caution and the Community Caution. These cautions are in reality very similar to the existing simple and conditional caution framework, but with some differences, which in practice, may not make them very different to the old conditional and simple police caution system.

The new framework aims to simplify and standardise the OOCD system, to ensure that low-level offenders are dealt with in a consistent and proportionate way across the country. It also aims to provide more opportunities for offenders to address the underlying causes of their offending behaviour and to make amends to their victims and communities.

We will look at some of the key differences and similarities between the old simple and conditional caution system, and the new Diversionary and Community Cautions.

It should be noted that the Diversionary and Community Cautions regime has not yet been implemented, and will come into force when the government passes regulations bringing the scheme into action. Up until the new regime comes into effect, the police will continue to issue simple and conditional cautions, and PNDs.

No, your simple or conditional caution, including both adult and youth cautions, will remain on the PNC until you reach 100 years of age, unless you get it deleted.

The Diversionary Caution is the upper-tier disposal, which can be used for any offence, except for “excluded offences”, unless approved by an officer of at least Inspector rank. There is a full list of excluded offences but generally they relate to the following offences:

• Offensive weapon and bladed article offences
• Carrying a firearm in a public place
• Child cruelty
• Sexual offences against children (including those relating to child prostitution and pornography)
• Sex-trafficking offences
• Indecent and pornographic images of children
• Importing, exporting, producing, supplying and possession with intent to supply to another Class A drugs

The Diversionary Caution requires the individual to accept responsibility for the offence and to comply with certain conditions attached to the caution. These conditions may include paying compensation to the victim, attending a rehabilitation programme, or doing unpaid work. If the person fails to comply with the conditions, they can be prosecuted for the original offence. The upper-tier Diversionary Caution is intended for more serious offences, but where the police believe the public interest can best be served through prosecuting breaches of conditions, rather than going straight to court. If the conditions are broken the police have a power of arrest and detention.

The Community Caution is the lower-tier disposal, which will be used for less serious offences and cannot be given for “indictable only” offences, or offences that are “excluded” offences. It also requires the offender to accept responsibility for the offence and to comply with certain conditions attached to the caution. These conditions may include apologising to the victim, repairing the damage caused, or participating in an educational activity. If the offender fails to comply with the conditions, they can be issued with an increased financial penalty, up to £150, which can be enforced by the court. The main difference with the community resolution and the diversionary caution is that the community caution is a “case ending disposal”, as once it has been issued, there will be no subsequent prosecution at court for the original offence, even if the conditions are not complied with – the most the police can do is enforce the fine. There is no power of arrest for non-compliance with the conditions.

The government guidelines highlight that the key difference between the Diversionary and Community Caution is the consequences for breaching conditions. Generally if the police think that the person doesn’t merit the possibility of prosecution, due to the nature of the case, then a Community Caution will be issued, but where the case is more serious, a Diversionary Caution will be issued.

Although the stated aim of the Diversionary or Community Caution regime is to reduce the police’s OOCD options to two, the draft guidelines states that Community Resolutions will continue to exist.

Community Resolutions are issued for low level incidents, including neighbour disputes and low antisocial behaviour, and generally speaking, are not recorded on the PNC, meaning they will not automatically trigger a disclosure on a DBS check – although they can still be revealed on an enhanced DBS certificate.

The draft Diversionary and Community Caution guidelines states that the police should ask themselves the following questions to decide if a Community Resolution is more suitable than a Diversionary or Community Caution for a minor offence:

1.  Would a Community Resolution adequately address the behaviour?
2.  Is it in the public interest to enforce the matter with a Community Resolution?
3.  If applicable, does it meet the needs and wishes of the victim?
4. If the recipient does not comply with any or all conditions, is it acceptable that no enforceable action could be taken?

If the answer is yes, and the case is in line with the current Community Resolutions Guidelines, then a Community Resolution should be issued instead of a Diversionary or Community Caution.

Before a Diversionary or Community Caution can be issued, the police must first determine whether a suspect is eligible.

The key criteria are that:

• There is sufficient evidence to support a prosecution, and that the public interest would be better served via a Diversionary or Community Caution.
• That the individual admits the having committed the offence.
• The individual consents to being given a caution, and understands all the implications that accompany it (including the fact that it will be recorded on the PNC), and the fact that failure to comply with any of the conditions may, in the case of a Diversionary Caution, result in prosecution, or in the case of a Community Caution, subsequently result in a financial penalty.
• A form must be signed acknowledging guilt, and accepting the consequences and conditions of the caution.

Diversionary cautions can be issued for cases that are defined buy the police as including, domestic abuse.

The definition of “domestic abuse” is defined in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. In general terms it entails abuse of a person over the age of 16, where they are “personally connected”, and may consist of behaviour including:

• Physical or sexual abuse
• Violent or threatening behaviour
• Controlling or coercive behaviour
• Economic abuse
• Psychological, emotional, or other abuse

Specifically tailored conditions will be implemented for cases of domestic abuse that must include rehabilitative elements, including principles and processes of motivational interviewing, peer support, peer challenge, victim focus, offender focus, rapport, non-shaming, listening, and questioning.

Along with the need for there to be:

• Sufficient evidence to support a Diversionary or Community Caution.
• An admission to the offence.
• Consent to the caution.
• The caution must be in the public interest.

The suspect must also always be offered the opportunity to receive free and independent legal advice. This applies even if a person has not been arrested and detained, and covers people who have attended on a voluntary basis at a police station, or someone who has been questioned outside a police station, such as at a person’s home, or at a music concert or festival. Typically cautions should usually be issued at a police station, or some other official location. This is in contrast to a Community Resolution, which are often issued at a suspect’s home.

Before a caution can be issued, the views of the victim have to be considered by the police. The victim, or victims’, views have to be taken into account when assessing the public interest in issuing a caution. The victim’s views also have to be considered when the police come to impose the particular conditions attached to the caution.

Even though a victim’s input is important in the caution process, a caution can still be issued against the views of a victim. This is often the case in domestic incidents, where victims, after the initial call to the police is made, do not want any action to be taken against their partner. The police will often ignore pleas by victims for cases to be dropped, and issue cautions against the victim’s express wishes. Sometimes the police may play down the impact of the caution to a victim, so that they agree to provide a statement, and support the caution, only to subsequently realise that the caution will have a significant impact on their partner.

It is possible for someone to receive a caution even after they have been charged. Representations can be made to a prosecutor to refer the matter back to the police for a caution to be issued. If the caution that is issued is a Diversionary caution, if the conditions are broken, the matter can then be sent back to court for prosecution.

A financial penalty can be attached to both a Diversionary or Community Caution, and that can be the only condition attached.

Conditions attached need to be appropriate to the case and individual, and a needs assessment may be undertaken to ensure rehabilitative conditions are relevant to the particular person.

Examples of conditions that can be attached are:

• An unpaid work condition – To carry out specified work for a maximum period of 20 hours for a Diversionary Caution or 10 hours for a Community Caution.
• Attendance condition – Requiring the offender to attend a specified place for a specified purpose (e.g., attending a drug or alcohol service), and for a specified number of hours. Where an attendance condition requires attendance at education or training, or receive any other service, the individual can be required to pay for this service.
• Reparative conditions – To repair (either directly or indirectly) any damage caused including reparative activity within a community, compensatory payment to an individual victim, business, or community, or financial compensation to a charitable or community fund. Compensation can also be made in respect of personal injury.
• An Apology – either in person or writing.
• Restrictive condition – not to meet or communicate with specified individuals; not to be in, or go to, specified addresses, places, or areas in the United Kingdom; not to carry out or participate in specified activities; not to engage in specified conduct.

For Domestic Abuse Diversionary cautions, there are detailed guidelines about the conditions that should be imposed

The time period for conditions to be complied with is a maximum of 20 weeks, but most conditions should be completed within 16 weeks.

Different time limits may apply; namely time limits may be made shorter where the police may need to prosecute a summary only offence, in the case of a Diversionary Caution. The police will need to make sure that the 6-month time limit to issue court proceedings for summary only offences is not exceeded prior to the completion of the conditions, in order to preserve the police’s ability to prosecute, in the event of a breach.

The rules related to the disclosure and retention of Diversionary and Community Cautions are essentially identical to those that relate to Conditional and Simple Police Cautions.

Both Diversionary and Community Cautions will be recorded on the PNC, which will mean they will be retained, unless deleted, until a suspect is 100 years old.

A Diversionary caution will be spent three months after it is issued, or earlier of the conditions come to an end sooner. A Community Caution will be spent immediately. Once a caution is spent it will not show on a basic DBS check.

For Standard and Enhanced checks, a caution will typically be disclosed for 6 years, after which it becomes protected. If the caution is for a “specified offence”, such as child cruelty, ABH, or sexual assault, then it will be permanently disclosable. Also all cautions can continue to be disclosed on a discretionary basis after 6 years on an enhanced DBS certificate.

At present we do not know the final form Diversionary or Community Cautions will take, but it seems that the rules and procedures are similar to the rules and procedures related to conditional and simple cautions – including the disclosure and retention rules.

In practice Conditional cautions appear to be very similar to the new Diversionary Caution; conditional cautions were always subject to the possibility of prosecution if the conditions were not complied with, and cautions for serious offences, were only ever issued after consultation with a senior officer. Simple Cautions never formally required the payment of a fine, like the new Community Caution, so that is a new development, but we have had cases in the past (admittedly rarely) were the police have asked clients to pay a fine or compensation alongside a Simple Caution. Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) have always required the payment of a fine. Removing the option of a PND will actually mean that more people will end up with a disclosable record, as PNDs were never automatically disclosable on a standard or an enhanced DBS certificate, whereas Community Cautions will be disclosable.

For the time being simple and conditional cautions will continue to be issued, and we will continue to help our clients to have these cautions removed from the PNC. When the new Diversionary or Community Cautions come into effect, we will also help those clients to have their records deleted from the PNC.

Since our last update, we have had hundreds of police cautions and arrest records deleted from the PNC.

We have now had over 350 arrest records and cautions removed from the PNC, from over a decade of cases.

We have had cautions removed in respect of any conceivable offence you can think off, ranging from low level assaults and drug possession, all the way to arson and sexual assault, and everything in between.

We believe we are the legal practice with the most experience of successfully deleting records from the PNC. Given our years of experience, we are in the best position to advise you on your prospects of successfully having a police caution removed from the PNC.

We are often asked which police forces we have successfully persuaded to removed PNC records. Below is a list of all the forces where we have successfully had records removed:

• The Metropolitan police
• Northumbria Police
• West Yorkshire Police
• British Transport police (BTP)
• Dorset police
• Hampshire police
• Avon and Somerset police
• Dyfed-Powys Police
• Warwickshire police
• Hertfordshire police
• Leicestershire Constabulary
• Devon and Cornwall police
• Cleveland police
• Humberside police
• Norfolk police
• Sussex police
• North Yorkshire police
• Gloucestershire Constabulary
• Durham police
• North Wales police
• Lancashire police
• Derbyshire police
• West Mercia police
• South Yorkshire police
• West Midlands police
• Lincolnshire police
• Bedfordshire police
• Nottinghamshire police
• Thames Valley police
• Staffordshire police
• Cheshire police
• Greater Manchester police
• Lincolnshire police
• Merseyside police
• Essex police
• Wiltshire police
• Surrey police
• Kent police
• Cambridgeshire police
• The City of London police
• Port of Dover Police

Along with successfully persuading police forces to remove PNC records, we also have considerable success of applying for the deletion of overseas convictions from the PNC.

Through our work in this area, ACRO changed their policy with respect to the deletion of overseas records. We noticed that EU regulations were being wrongly implemented by ACRO with respect to criminal records that had been transferred from European countries to the UK PNC. After we appealed to ACRO, pointing out the error, their policy was changed allowing for the deletion of certain European criminal records. Please get in touch if you have a criminal record that was transferred from overseas onto the UK PNC. We may be able to help you have this record removed.

If you are unsure whether your caution will impact your employment, you can try our police caution calculator.

The calculator will tell you how long your caution will be disclosed on a DBS Certificate.

Unless your caution is deleted, it will remain on the PNC until you reach 100 years. This means that even if a caution is not disclosed on a DBS certificate, it can still cause difficulty with respect to travel and immigration.

A caution will be revealed either directly or indirectly on an ACRO Police Certificate; a Police Certificate will typically be requested by an overseas jurisdiction when processing a visa or citizenship application.

Please get in touch today to discuss your case. Our office manager Myriam will be happy to field your initial enquiry, and if she believes we can help, an initial consultation can be arranged with our expert solicitor Matthew Elkins.

During your initial consultation Mr Elkins will be able to provide you with a detailed advice on your prospects of successfully having your caution or arrest record removed, based on his extensive experience that has been built over years, and hundreds of cases.

We charge reasonable fixed fees for all our services.

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.

When is a police caution spent is a question you may ask if you are applying for a new job. The short answer to this question is that a caution is spent immediately.

This means that your caution will be spent as soon as you receive it, and will not be revealed on a basic DBS certificate.

The only exception to this rule is if you received a conditional caution. If you received a conditional caution it will become spent as soon as the conditions expire, up to a maximum of three months.

All will be well for your job application, if all you need is a Basic DBS certificate. The issue for you to determine will be what type of certificate do you actually need?

If you hope to work in a regulated role, you will need either a standard or an enhanced DBS certificate.

If you work in a regulated role in finance, accounting, or the law you will need a standard DBS certificate.

If you work with children or vulnerable adults, then you will need an enhanced DBS certificate.

If you need either an enhanced or standard DBS certificate, the issue for you will not be “when is a caution spent” but “when does a police caution become protected”.

Please see here, for information about when a police caution will become protected.

Some cautions will never become protected, and even when a caution becomes protected, it will be held on the Police National Computer (PNC) until you reach 100 years of age.

Along with causing employment difficulties, a police caution can also cause significant issues with respect to immigration.

For details on how a caution will impact overseas immigration, please see our article here: What is a Police Certificate?

If you have a police caution, and it is causing you issues, then please get in touch to discuss your case.

We are the leading practice specialising in police record deletion and DBS appeals.

We have had hundreds of successful cases, having police cautions and other records deleted with police forces across England and Wales.

Due to our extensive experience, we will be able to advise from the outset whether you have a good chance of success or not.

In all cases we offer reasonable fixed fees. Please get in touch today to arrange an initial consultation.

DBS Caution Removal is possible, depending on the facts of your case.
If you have received a police caution, then it will show up on a standard and enhanced DBS Certificate.
Your police caution will show up on your DBS certificate for 6 years in most cases. If you received a youth caution, due to recent changes in the law, it will not show up on your DBS Certificate, unless it is an enhanced DBS Certificate. Youth police cautions can still show up on enhanced DBS Certificates on a discretionary basis, dependant on the facts of your case.

Some adult police cautions can show up indefinitely on both a Standard and Enhanced DBS Certificate, and will not become protected after 6 years.

A police caution will show indefinitely on a DBS Certificate if the caution was issued for a specified offence. Examples of specified offences are ABH, affray, sexual assault, child neglect/cruelty, and possession of indecent images.

For full details on how and when a police caution will show up on a DBS Certificate, please see our Police Caution Calculator.

If you have received a caution and it is showing up on your DBS Certificate, we can help you with DBS caution removal.

We have specialised in DBS caution removal for many years, and we have had hundreds of successful cases. Please see here for our Client Reviews.

You may feel that your caution was unfairly issued, or was issued a long time ago and so is no longer relevant to the person you are. If so we can help.

We always aim to persuade the police, without the need for court proceedings, to remove unwanted police cautions.

We will carefully construct your application to ensure you stand the best possible chance of successfully having your police caution removed from your DBS certificate.

Along with challenging unfairly issued and retained police cautions, we have also helped many clients with challenging disclosures on DBS certificates, and also barring proceedings.

Often when someone has been issued with a police caution, the DBS will consider them for barring. This is especially so if the case relates to violence or sexual offending.

We have successfully had many clients removed from the DBS’s barred lists, and also challenged barring decisions before they are made.

If you have been issued with a police caution, and you have now been referred for barring by the DBS, then we can help.

You may have lived with your caution for years, and it has held you back in terms of employment, or work and travel overseas. We have helped hundreds of people get their lives back on track, and put a minor incident behind them forever.

Please get in touch today to discuss DBS caution removal.

We offer reasonable fixed fees, and will always give you an honest and frank assessment of any case.

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.

If you have received a police caution you may be wondering: what is a protected caution?

The best way to explain the difference between when a criminal record becomes “spent”, and when it becomes “protected”, is to look at the different types of background check.

There are three types of DBS certificate, basic, standard, and enhanced.

All employers can ask for a Basic DBS check. It is in relation to a Basic DBS check that it matters whether your record is “spent” or “unspent” according to the Rehabilitation of Criminal Offenders Act 1974.

All cautions are immediately “spent” for the purposes of a basic DBS check as soon as they are issued, no matter the type of offence, or when the caution was issued.

The only exception to this is in relation to a conditional caution. For a conditional caution it will become spent as soon as the conditions expire, up to a maximum of three months.

If your employer is asking you to apply for a standard or enhanced DBS certificate, this means they are allowed to ask an “exempted question”. This basically means that they are allowed to ask you about spent criminal records, but only to the extent that they are not “protected”.

The typical question you will be asked is the following:

An adult caution will become “protected” if it was issued six or more years ago, unless it is for an offence that is on the specified offences list.

All youth cautions (both simple and conditional) will be protected immediately.

If an adult caution is for an offence that appears on the specified offences list, your caution will be indefinitely disclosable on both a standard and an enhanced DBS certificate. Typical examples of specified offences cautions are ABH, affray, child cruelty/neglect, possession of indecent images of children or sexual assault.

For further details on when a caution will be disclosed, you can use our: police caution calculator.

Once a caution is protected the police will still retain it on the Police National Computer (PNC) until you reach 100 years of age.

For youth cautions they will not be automatically disclosable on any level of DBS certificate, but may be revealed as “relevant information” on an enhanced DBS certificate.

For adult cautions, after six years, a caution will be “protected” and will not be revealed on a standard DBS check, but might continue to be revealed on an enhanced DBS check as “relevant information”.

In order for the police to reveal a protected caution, they would have to justify that it was necessary, reasonable, and proportionate to disclose the information. If you are arrested a second time, or receive a second caution, then it will make it much more likely that a protected caution will be revealed on an enhanced DBS certificate.

A protected caution can also continue to cause problems with respect to visas and citizenship overseas. A caution will be revealed directly on an ACRO Police Certificate for either 5  or 10 years depending on the offence. Once the time period has elapsed, the caution will become “stepped down”. Once it is stepped down it will be indirectly revealed via a “no live trace” disclosure.

For anyone who has never been cautioned or convicted, their Police Certificate will simply state “no trace”. If you provide a “no live trace” certificate to a foreign embassy, most often they will then enquire into the details of your criminal record. Certain countries, notably the United States and China, may block a Visa or citizenship application based on a police caution, depending on the offence, and when the caution was issued.

So if you have now answered the question, what is a protected caution, and you realise your caution is not protected, then please get in touch.

We have years of experience in applying for the removal of police records, including hundreds of successful police caution removal cases.

We understand the significant impact a low-level criminal allegation can have on someone’s career, and we deal with every case sensitively and compassionately.

We charge reasonable fixed fees for our services. Please contact us to arrange a fixed fee initial consultation where we will be able to provide you an honest and frank opinion on your prospects of successfully having your police caution removed.