Galop can help you if you have questions about criminal convictions or are concerned about Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks. We can also support you if you have to go to court as a victim or witness, and we can even make a criminal injuries compensation claim on your behalf.
Read Malcolm’s story
Malcolm was arrested several years before getting in touch with us, on suspicion of having sex with another man in a public toilet. The police told him that if a court found him guilty he might go to prison, but if he admitted to it, they could give him a warning and he wouldn’t need to go to court. He agreed and the police gave him a formal warning, called a caution.
Years later he had forgotten about what happened and got a job through an agency cleaning at a university. After doing it for a couple of years, the university decided to take over his employment from the agency and he was told he needed to fill out a criminal records bureau (CRB) check form. When the result came back it said he had a caution for a sexual offense.
When he got in touch with us, his new employer had suspended without pay while they decided what to do. A caseworker advised him about his rights and options. With his consent, we wrote to his employer explaining that the caution was for a consensual act and didn’t indicate any risk to the people he works with. We also found him a discrimination lawyer who represented him for free and the employer took him back. We advised him about things he could do to avoid this kind of problem in future, the period of time after which it wouldn’t normally show up on a check and we helped him get access to the information the police hold on him.
Click here to read our read our booklet, cottaging & cruising: your safety, your rights and the law
Click here to read our factsheet on CRB checks and previous convictions
Note: we have not used actual names or images.
Click here to read our factsheet on CRB checks and gender identity
Click here to read our factsheet on police warnings, cautions and penalty notices
You can call us on 0207 704 6767 for confidential advice about a criminal justice issue
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