Spencer contacted our helpline as he wanted to get a better understanding as to why his spent conviction had appeared on his basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate.
Spencer explained that following amendments to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) in 2014 he’d assumed that his conviction would become spent in 2018. Recently however, his company had been bought out by another and he’d been told that basic DBS checks would be done on all staff. Although he wasn’t particularly worried about this, he decided to do his own basic DBS check and was surprised to see his conviction being disclosed on it. Spencer had telephoned the DBS for advice and been told that they were unable to assist him with this type of enquiry. He was extremely concerned that he would loose his job if his new employer saw the conviction on his certificate.
Spencer confirmed that he had successfully appealed his sentence from 5 years to 3 years in 2008. At that time, he had also been placed on the Sex Offenders Register (SOR) indefinitely and been given an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO).
We explained to Spencer that under the ROA, SOPO’s are dealt with as relevant orders and have their own rehabilitation period. Orders such as this become spent once they come to an end and as Spencer’s SOPO was indefinite his conviction would never be spent.
We advised Spencer that as it had been more than 5 years since the SOPO was issued, he could now apply to the court to have the order discharged. We provided him with some guidance setting out the process for applying and what he should include in his application. We also advised that if his application was successful, he could then apply to come off the SOR.
Spencer followed the advice we gave him and in April 2022 was told that his SOPO had been discharged.
Spencer said:
The court was able to deal with the discharge of my SOPO administratively without me having to attend in person. Although the process took a while it’s not that difficult to do if you follow the guidance given by Unlock.
Links
- Practical information: Applying to court to end a court order
Notes about this case study
This case study relates to Unlock’s helpline.
Names and details have been changed to protect the identity of those involved.
Published June 2022.
