A personal response to today’s Supreme Court ruling
Wednesday, 30 January 2019
Elli has been actively involved in our work to push for changes to the DBS filtering rules and she featured in a BBC Newsnight piece that aired the night before the Supreme Court hearing started in June 2018 (watch again). Here, she responds to the news about the judgment in that case… I’m pleased with
- Published in Latest, News & Media, What DBS disclose
Case of Monica
Thursday, 31 May 2018
Monica didn’t have a great start in life. She was in care from the age of 2 and she didn’t go to a great school, leaving with no qualifications. Fighting was part of her language – she used violence to settle disputes and disagreements. This worked for Monica amongst her peers, but not when she
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose
Case of Dennis
Thursday, 31 May 2018
Dennis has two minor convictions. The first was in 2004 when he was 17 years old – for criminal damage to a phone box for which he received a fine and community service. The second was in 2012 when he was 25 years old – for common assault after an altercation one evening with another
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose
Case of Teresa
Thursday, 31 May 2018
In 2008, after enduring more than a year of emotional abuse from her partner, the police came knocking on Teresa’s door. She had never had any dealings with the police before and she had no idea why they were there. They informed her that her partner had accused her of assault; she had pushed him
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose
Case of Helen
Thursday, 31 May 2018
Aged 14 Helen was arrested and received a caution. It was around this time she started binge drinking which began a downwards spiral. Smoking ‘weed’ and drinking heavily at the weekends was pretty much the norm amongst the gang she hung around with and by the time she was 19 a deep depression had overtaken
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose
Case of Wesley – Disclosure of old convictions means people continue to be haunted by past mistakes
Monday, 16 April 2018
At the onset of puberty Wesley had a lot of mixed feelings about his sexuality. Although he can remember attending sex education classes, he says there was very little information about being gay and this made him feel ‘lost and alone’. For a while, he explored his sexuality with a friend of his brothers who
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose
Case of Marcus – Disclosure of convictions given to youths continue to punish and prevents them from reaching their full potential
Monday, 16 April 2018
In 1995 Marcus was convicted of 6 offences although he appeared in court only once. The six offences were committed between 1992 and 1994 when Marcus was aged between 14 and 16. He was arrested and charged when he was 17 years old but by the time he appeared at the magistrate’s court for sentencing
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose
Case of Diana – Disclosure of convictions from 25 years ago threaten chances of fostering
Thursday, 03 August 2017
Whilst she was still at school, Diana was convicted of seven counts of theft from the school changing room and was sentenced to a 12 months conditional discharge and fines ranging from £1 to £14. Up until then, her childhood had been very chaotic having been taken into local authority care following regular abuse and
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose
Case of Hilary – Reliving old convictions stops people from pursuing their dreams
Thursday, 03 August 2017
When she was 19, Hilary was found guilty of possession of a prohibited weapon and prohibited ammunition after her then boyfriend forced her to hide them in her handbag as they travelled in a car together and were pulled over by the police. When the case went to court, she received a 2 year conditional
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose
Case of Kate – Qualified to work but old convictions are the barrier
Thursday, 03 August 2017
At the age of 16, Kate took the decision to move out of her family home and began renting a room from somebody she’d met through a friend. After she’d been there for three months and, without any warning, she returned home from college to find that her landlady had thrown the majority of her
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose
Case of Larry – Two conditional discharges first causing problems 40 years later
Thursday, 03 August 2017
Larry only became aware that he had two offences on his record when he reached the age of 60 and needed an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check to volunteer with his son’s choir. When he was 16, Larry was convicted of possession of marijuana and received a one year conditional discharge. He wasn’t a
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose