Conditional discharge from 25 years ago listed as conviction on Enhanced CRB check-is this normal?

[changingforonequestion]

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on this. I've name-changed as I'm quite recognisable in my normal name...

DP recently got an enhanced CRB check as he is going to be doing a volunteer role at the local sports club that involves working with kids. When it came through, it had a conviction listed. This relates to something he did as a teenager about 25 years ago (theft), which was resolved as a conditional discharge (12 months). At the time he was told (or at least this is how he remembers it) that once the 12 months was up and provided he didn't do anything else in that time, it would be scratched from his record and he would have no criminal record. So, has it only come up this time because it is an enhanced check, or would it come up on a normal check too? Is it right that it has? It won't affect this particular role, but he's really worried now that he should actually have been declaring it every time he appied for a job, which he hasn't done as he thought it was all over and done with.

Now, it could be that he was misinformed at the time, or that he misunderstood (not impossible, given he was only 18). What I am hoping anyone can advise on is whether he should have been declaring it on job applications, and if so what he should do about it now with his current job.

Thanks for any advice!

[YesMaam]

I am not a criminal lawyer (any more), but my memory tells me a conditional discharge is a sentence after conviction, so he does have a conviction.

A conditional discharge is normally spent after the period of the discharge, so wouldn't show up in a normal CRB check, but would in an enhanced CRB check which I think even shows cautions, which are not convictions at all.

Whether he should have been declaring it as a conviction depends what the job application forms state - normally they say do you have any unspent convictions, or any convictions in the last 5 years. If the conditional discharge is his only one the the answer would be NO. If the question is have you EVER received a criminal conviction, then the correct answer is yes.

HTH

[prh47bridge]

I'm afraid I have to disagree with YesMaam. This would have come up on a standard check.

A CRB check, standard or enhanced, will show any convictions, cautions and final reprimands even if they are spent. The difference between the two is that the police are asked if they have additional information to be added to an enhanced disclosure, so it may include information about investigations that did not lead to a prosecution. An enhanced disclosure may also include information from the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

Because a CRB check includes information about spent convictions, employers can only insist on a check for certain types of job (or voluntary role) - working with young people or vulnerable adults, health care, jobs in the criminal justice system, etc. These are all jobs that are exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

If your DP applied for a job that was not exempt from the ROA the employer cannot legally get a CRB check of any kind. And for a job where a CRB check is required the employer can only refuse to employ if the information on the CRB check is in some way relevant. A conviction for theft resulting in a conditional discharge 25 years ago is unlikely to be relevant for most jobs.

[PavlovtheCat]

agree with PRH. also, to confirm, a conditional discharge is a conviction. so while it is classed as spent, it does not ever ever get 'scratched', just does not need to be disclosed unless the job requires it to through CRB/enhanced CRB, such as a sports club, which would need all previous convictions, spent or unspent, to ensure the safety of those who use the club.

[changingforonequestion]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply. It all makes a lot more sense now. I remember thinking, when DP told me about the incident years ago, that he must have been let of with a caution, but clearly it was more than that. I suppose no one explained it to him very well at the time. His job is an office-based one with no contact with children or vulnerable adults, so I should imagine he was only asked about unspent convictions when he applied. Thanks again for your help.

[PavlovtheCat]

A caution would also show up, as would a reprimand or police warning, fines etc.

[PavlovtheCat]

It may not be an issue due to age of conviction, it could appear to employers that it was a genuine over sight. I know of one person who has face to face contact with vulnerable people in criminal justice system who has a cd for minor drug offence when he was a teenager and which his employers are aware of.