Some examples of people we’ve helped

Looking back over the last couple of months, we’ve written up a few examples of the people we’ve helped. We hope they give a good idea of how we help people. More importantly, we think that these examples show how people with convictions are able to overcome some of the barriers that have been put

Case study – Stephanie – Having failed to get Google to remove links to my name an application to the ICO proved more successful

Stephanie contacted our helpline after Google refused to removed links to her name online. She explained that although her conviction was now spent the existence of the information online meant that she was still unable to put her past mistakes behind her. Despite not having to disclose her conviction to an employer, many would carry

Case study – Hilario – Being clear on disclosure rules allowed me to get settled status in the UK

Hilario contacted our helpline looking for some information and advice in relation to his application for settled status. He explained that the question on the application form asked: “Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence” Hilario stated that he had a conviction from 5 years ago which was now spent but he wanted

Case study – Barney – The discrimination I faced by insurers following my conviction was a real eye opener

Barney contacted our helpline after encountering problems getting insurance due to his criminal record. Barney explained that he was a student counsellor in his final year of study. He had just obtained membership of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP) but needed to get professional indemnity insurance in order to practice. He had

Criminal records webinar Wednesday 12 January 2022

Do you deal with criminal records in your work? You might be helping people with convictions who are applying for jobs, or working in recruitment/HR and making hiring decisions or carrying out DBS checks.   If any of these apply to you, book a place and join us on Wednesday 12 January 2022 for our webinar on

Some examples of people we’ve helped

Looking back over the last couple of months, we’ve written up a few examples of the people we’ve helped. We hope they give a good idea of how we help people. More importantly, we think that these examples show how people with convictions are able to overcome some of the barriers that have been put

Case study – Jaxon – I used Unlock’s list of insurance brokers to get public liability insurance

Jaxon contacted our helpline as he was finding it difficult to get public liability insurance due to his unspent conviction. Jaxon explained that he had several convictions which he’d received as a youth which had led to fines and community orders. However, his last conviction had resulted in a four-year prison sentence. Whilst in prison,

Case study – Maryam – I successfully challenged the police over the disclosure of my filtered caution

Maryam contacted our helpline for information and advice after a caution which had been filtered by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) was disclosed as police intelligence on her enhanced DBS certificate. She explained that in 2013 she had received a caution for ‘Falsely representing self to possess a qualification in nursing/midwifery’. The caution had

Case study – Tommy – A call to the Unlock helpline led to my conviction becoming spent and a new job

Tommy contacted our helpline for information and advice after a conviction which was over 8 years old had been disclosed on his basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate. He explained that he had been convicted in early 2013 and received a £70 fine and a restraining order. From the research he had done, he

Monthly update – March 2021

We’ve just published our update for March 2021. This months update includes: New information on sexual offence convictions: what you need to know. An advice post setting out what you do (and do not) need to disclose when applying for a job with probation. A personal story which looks at the true cost of an IPP

Some examples of people we’ve helped

Looking back over the last couple of months, we’ve written up a few examples of the people we’ve helped. We hope they give a good idea of how we help people. More importantly, we think that these examples show how people with convictions are able to overcome some of the barriers that have been put

Case study – Asher – Unlock helped me to get links to online information about my conviction removed

Asher contacted our helpline for advice on getting online information about his conviction removed. He explained that his conviction was almost 20 years old and was now spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. However, anybody who searched for his name online would very quickly find out about his conviction for theft which had resulted