Motoring criminal record

[jimdavis]

One of my neighbours Samantha, asked me if her driving record would show up when applying
for employment.
I told her that a driving conviction would be wiped off her record after 11 years as long as it was
her only conviction.
She told me that she has two driving convictions.
The first was in 1977 for driving without due care and attention.
The second was ten years later for driving with excess alcohol which resulted in a 12 month disqualification.
I told her that the two convictions mean that her record will always be revealed on any job application
that requires a CRB or DBS check.
Am I correct in telling her this?
The legislation regarding wiping records is somewhat confusing.

 

[jimdavis]

This morning Sam informed me that she had been offered quite a good job within the NHS.
Her DBS check was completely clear with no convictions.
I wished her well and apologised for giving her incorrect advice regarding her criminal record.
I now realise why I accidentally gave her incorrect advice.

I had been reading from a previous thread regarding criminal records that was misleading.
The post was from price1367.

price 1367 said:

"The DR10 is disclosable fore 5 years for insurance purposes.
It should show up for 5 years on a DVLA employers check, as it is spent at that time, but it is not clear if in fact it is disclosed for the full 11 years that it remains on your licence.
On a DBS check, it is disclosable, and will show up, for 11 years. This date runs from the date of conviction.
The reason that it is 11 years rather than 5 is that you have a job requiring a DBS check, and these are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. For these type of jobs, convictions are never spent. However, on 29th May 2013 that was amended to say that many offences (in fact all that are not on the special list - the usual drugs, GBH etc) will become spent for DBS purposes after 11 years PROVIDING it is your only conviction."


The last sentence is misleading.

The last sentence should read:

However, on 29th May 2013 that was amended to say that many offences (in fact all that are not on the special list - the usual drugs, GBH etc) will become spent for DBS purposes after 11 years PROVIDING it is your only RECORDABLE conviction."

Driving without due care and attention isn't a recordable conviction which explains why Sam now has a completely
clean DBS report.

Pity that advice on this site misleads people into thinking they have a criminal record for life when they only
have a criminal record for 11 years.

 

[price1367]

Jim, I am sorry but I did not see your first post about this, or I would have been able to clarify what you were asking about.
The Rehabilitation of offenders Act deals with criminal convictions, which includes drink driving although it is a 'motoring offence' Most motoring offences do not give you a criminal record which is discloseable for 11 years, otherwise all motoring offences would be discloseable for 11 years and 2 speeding convictions in your lifetime would mean that they would never be spent. Clearly that would be nonsense.
My apologies if what I posted was misunderstood, you will see that in other posts I have been able to reassure people that they do not have to disclose convictions for life, because of the (relatively) new 11 year rule.

 

[jimdavis]

Hi Mr Price,

Thank you for your polite and helpful reply.
Regarding advice on motoring convictions and criminal records, Sam sent an email to the Unlock Helpline
asking if her two convictions would show up on an enhanced DBS check.
Copied below is their reply:

"Thank you for contacting Unlock. Your 2 convictions, even though they are spent, will show on an Enhanced DBS check. This should not stop you from applying for jobs, although ambulance driver may not be a good choice. For the vast majority of jobs, your convictions would not be considered a risk."

That advice is wrong however, it's very amusing that they mentioned an ambulance driver being not a good choice of job
for her to apply for.

Guess what job she has just been offered in the NHS. ....... Yes, you've gussed it !

Therefore Unlock aren't aware of the difference between recordable and non-recordable motoring offences.
Worrying really as they give "expert" legal advice to ex-offenders.

Jim.

 

[price1367]

I suspect they have not been made aware of the changes, which were made in March time 2014!
this is surprising since NACRO (national association for the care and resettlement of offenders) were heavily involved in bringing pressure for this change to come about. I think that they are unaware of the 11 year cut off, rather than them thinking that the offences are both criminal convictions to be disclosed for DBS purposes. Due care and attention is spent after 5 years, even for that because (as you highlighted before) it is not a recordable offence.
I will drop them an email to point this out to them.... Or have you done this already?

 

[jimdavis]

No I haven't contacted NACRO to inform them of the changes.
Sam copied her email reply from Nacro through to me and I just copied and pasted it into my last
post with personal details removed.

Amazing that NACRO aren't aware of legal changes brought about due to their own campaigning.
However, in their defence they may have advisors who aren't all that well informed.

For example, last year I had some advice on a civil matter from a financial expert.
Turned out that the advice I received was totally incorrect.