cherrypie25

which one?

Jim Humphries

Schedule 1 with a covering letter.

cherrypie25

Dear Sir or Madam:
Subject: United Kingdom Police Record
After receiving my UK Police Records I realized that on there was a conviction from when I was 15 years of age (10 years ago). It was my understanding that when I reached 18 years of age these convictions would be taken off my record. On the Form titled Schedule 1 Background/Declaration I ticked the box NO to: Been convicted of a crime or offence in another country and Been charged or may be charged for a crime or offence in Canada or any other country? It was not my intention to be misleading; I honestly thought that juvenile records were taken off at 18. I am trying now to rectify my mistake on the application. I was charged on the 21/06/1997 for shoplifting. Like I said I was 15 and made a very stupid mistake. I was convicted on the 17/09/1997 I was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and a ₤20 fine. I have never committed any other crimes. I also informed the call center of this mistake on my part.

Will this be ok it is the truth?

ConfusedBrit

Hi all,

I have a situation now with the filling out of my Schedule 1 form. I am applying for residency as a sponsored spouse.

The problem is that I have 2 incidents with the police and I am not sure how to handle them. I have no actual details of the incidents and intend to get my police check done asap to find out what is actually on record, but this will take up to 40 days - 40 days we cannot really spare.

Incident 1: Date unknown, around 13 years ago. I was driving around and went past the wrong place at the wrong time and got pulled up by the police. Because I always carried my car tools in my car, I got a 'caution for going equipped' after spending a night in the cell. Now I was not actually 'convicted' of any crime as no crime was committed. But as I was held in a police cell overnight do I need to declare this? As I say I do not have the details of when this was exactly and if it is not even on my record then I have no way of supplying said details. I am not even sure if it will be on my record as I was led to believe at the time that it would only be on there for a few years and that it would not even show up in the records of other police districts.

Incident 2: Date unknown, some time in 2000. I was at my leaving do which turned out to be a bit of a pissup. Long story short, I had hurt my thumb and was screaming in pain and got thrown out of the bar. Sitting outside waiting for my friends, the police drove past and I shouted at them. I got put in the cell overnight to sober up and was released in the morning. I do not have any memory as to what I was charged/cautioned for. Again, I have no record of this or the dates so don't know what to put on my form.

I guess the right answer is to get the police report and see what is on there, but if anyone knows if these would be considered minor misdemeanours and can be ignored as there were no criminal charges etc it would be good to know. Really need to get this application off sooner rather than later.

Ta muchly

T.

ConfusedBrit

Hi again

I guess I did not really ask a question properly. I think my question is this...

What should I put on my form? Should I put that I was detained overnight twice, but I don't know the dates or have any details pertaining to any charges that may have occurred?

Would a wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time caution of going equipped and a night in the cell to sober up be things that could affect my entry into Canada?

Thanks for any insight on this.

T...

boxerdog03

was you conicted of any offence? It was my understanding that to be guilty you had to be found guilty, therefore no court case no conviction. Thats just a guess though don't quote me.

I'd send off for police check before completing anything, if it's not listed then no conviction, therefore nothing to declare.

MarkG

As I understand it, if you accept a caution you're admitting guilt. Hence that boy who was cautioned for snapping a girl's bra strap at school a year or two back is now going to be on the 'Sex Offender Register' for the rest of his life.

burton bunch

You cant be serious ???????

MarkG

I believe so; I read an article a while ago about his parents trying to get him off the list, but the government said that the caution was an admission of guilt. I'm not sure whether anything has changed since then.

(Of course with the standard of journalism in the UK it's possible that they were misunderstanding the situation).

ConfusedBrit

Well from my memory, I was under the impression that the caution I was recieving was just me being 'let off'. I certainly did not admit to any guilt, for there was none.

I would like to wait until I get the police report back (I can't even submit it yet as I am not in the country for another 2 weeks) before filling out any visa forms, but we really don't have the time to spare as we are hoping to move in December and time is ticking.

Would it be a BadThing(tm) to put down the 2 overnight stays I had under the section where it asks if I have been detained? Even though I have no criminal charges and I have no details of said stays?

Is a single drunk&disorderly the kind of thing that is likely to hamper my chances of getting the visa?

Ta.

T...

MarkG

If you were being 'let off' they wouldn't caution you. A lot of people don't seem to realise that by accepting a caution they're admitting they were guilty of a crime but the police can't be arsed to take them to court over it; that can come back to haunt you for years after even if you were innocent.

This BBC page about the recent use of cautions in rape cases:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/6717997.stm

Says "an admission of guilt is needed for a caution". So it would appear that you admitted you were out to burgle someone when you accepted the caution.

That's not really a definitive source, but it's one of the first pages on the subject that Google found.

Ah, and this would seem to support the other article about the boy and the bra: "Acpo said a caution did not mean the offender was being "let off" as it still brought a criminal record and a caution for a sex crime would also see the offender placed on the sex offenders register."

hitchcock71

to be given a caution means that you agreed to the caution and that you were guilty of the crime that you were arrested of

so you pleaded guily to going equipped you were given a caution


, the police can only hand out cautions if the person agrees to it and it will/would be explained that they are pleading guilty to the crime

ConfusedBrit

Well that sucks, it certainly was not made clear at the time :-(

I admitted to having tools in my car, for that was true. I certainly did not 'admit' to any intent to do anything.

Will just have to wait for the police check to come through and hope for a speedy visa process after that.

ann m

Good luck !

ann m

oops - should have read page two of this thread - I've just repeated what lots of others have put on already - d'oh !