Story Type: Successes

Success with dealing with the ‘google effect’

I would like to share with readers of theRecord how new rules allowing Google links to be removed (‘The right to be forgotten’) has turned my life around. I really do believe that it can be of use to people with convictions.

Eight years ago I was in a very abusive relationship with a partner who was, in fact, a Police Officer. The relationship had ended although we did still have to live together and unfortunately one evening, an accident at our house caused a serious fire. I ended up in Intensive Care for two days fighting for my life. When I recovered I discovered that I was being taken to court, charged with arson. It was an extremely difficult time which was made worse upon conviction when details of the offence were published in the local newspapers. In court, my ex partner pleaded with the judge not to send me to prison, and I received a two year suspended sentence and 150 hours of community service.

For years I’d been living in the knowledge that anybody could look me up on the internet. I’d searched for myself and found a twisted press story of the event, which even showed where I lived. I knew that I was a good person and this was never going to happen again.

As a result of having a very understanding boss, I had kept my job and just wanted to move on and concentrate on my career so I studied for a Leadership, Management and Business Degree. A fantastic job opportunity came up and I applied. I was totally honest and disclosed my conviction as I knew it was going to show up on my DBS which they requested. I was delighted to get the job and was told it was entirely on merit, references and my drive to do well and succeed. I was over the moon and knew my life was now going in the right direction again and I was never going to look back.

In the meantime I had met a ‘nice’ man and we married. The relationship seemed to be going well, however when I used to come home and say that I had done well at this or that or I had received another pay rise, things started to go wrong. I eventually found out he was leading a double life, one with me and the other with a 24 year old (he was 52). I told him to leave and I moved back in with my parents. I filed for divorce as I felt I couldn’t ever trust this man again and that is when my life came crashing down again.

He suddenly decided that he wanted revenge and told my employer that they were employing a very dangerous person who was a risk to others because of my conviction (a complete lie). He had also printed off the newspaper article he had found on Google about me and said he was going to post it around the city so everyone could read it and destroy me. His attacks on me were malicious and it was terrifying not knowing what this man could do and the lengths that he would go to. I was advised by my solicitor and my employer to file for a Harassment Order and inform the Police of his allegations and intentions. My employer could see what this man was trying to do to me and supported me wholeheartedly. Despite having a spent conviction, that terrible newspaper article was being used against me again. It just wasn’t fair and I felt that enough was enough. I had to fight to get the past ‘put to bed’.

I remembered reading an article about ‘Google’s Right to be Forgotten’ in an Unlock update and decided to contact them. I told them what had happened and they advised me to do two things:-

Firstly – contact the newspaper who had published the original article and ask them to ‘remove the contents’ and,
Secondly – contact Google’s Legal team (through the link that was sent to me by Unlock) and ask them to remove the actual ‘link‘ that had any reference to me.

The staff at Unlock helped me word the email and information I was going to send, stating that I would be sending copies to the Information Commissioner’ Office or ICO (They are the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals).

I emailed the newspaper and explained to them that the information in the article was being used maliciously against me, quoting references from the ICO asking them if they would support me in my attempts to remove the article and its contents due to it being related to a spent conviction. I then completed the online Google form with as much details as possible to try and remove the link and sent that off too.

To my amazement within a day, the newspaper had emailed me back saying that they had removed the article from their site. I quickly went on to their site and, yes, the article had been removed. All that was left was the link on Google. I waited in anticipation and seven days later I received an email from Google saying that all links to me, my name and the offence had been removed.

Well, as you can imagine, it was a joyous day. The dark grey cloud had finally been lifted. I could walk tall again and restart my life.

The reason for this ‘long’ story is for me to reach out to everyone caught up in a similar situation. Is there something out there on Google that could be used against you? Is it being held against you now through a partner, a friend, a work colleague…even your boss? Are your children or family suffering because of it? Because if this is the case you must try and get it removed. If the conviction is spent then that gives them all the more reason to remove it. You will be surprised how helpful people are when you tell them that you made a mistake and how much you have turned your life around, that you are a good person… so get writing! Mine is a success story and so can yours be…just don’t give up. Good Luck!

By Sam (name changed to protect identity)

Proof that there’s a rehabilitation period for restraining orders with no duration or time specified!

Whilst answering enquiries for Unlock’s helpline I came across the following email from a client, which typifies the type of questions we often get asked. This one relates to relevant orders which have ‘no specified end date’. The following exchange between our client and Disclosure Scotland clears up this point once and for all.

Question to Disclosure Scotland

“Sadly, about 3 years ago, I got into a situation with an ex -partner which, due to a complex set of circumstances, ended with a conviction. I received a fine together with a restraining order. The restraining order had no duration or time specified.

Due to the restraining order not having an end date, I wanted to know whether this would cause a drag through effect and stop my conviction becoming spent? Fines usually become spent 12 months from the date of conviction. The date of my conviction was December 2012.

I was wondering therefore if you could clarify the situation.

Many thanks for your help”

Answer from Disclosure Scotland

“Restraining orders which have no duration/or time specified have a 2 year rehabilitation period. However, in the case where a relevant order is ‘indefinite’ it will still be considered to be live and therefore has a rehabilitation period of 100 years.

We can confirm therefore from the information that you have provided that under new legislation introduced in March 2014, your conviction is now considered spent when applying for a Basic certificate.

Date of conviction December 2012

Fine ( 1 year rehab period) considered spent December 2013

Restraining order no duration/time specified (2 year rehab period) considered spent December 2014 (ROA under English and Welsh legislation)

I hope this information is of assistance”

While this is a success story for this particular client, we would advise you to look carefully at what duration has been placed on your order. ‘Indefinite’ means your conviction will never be spent until such a time as you have gone back to court to have it amended. If the order states ‘Until further notice’, again you will need to go back to court to have an end date placed on the order.

Restraining order’s with no duration or time specified will become spent automatically after two years.

By Simon

Dating someone with a serious criminal record

I met Wes at my gym. We got talking and decided to go for a drink. Both in our 40’s, he wasn’t my usual type but there was something about him. Over the next three weeks we met numerous times. I was beginning to really like this guy.

Then I found out via a mutual friend that he had been in prison! He had only been out 4 months! I was shocked. Some things he’d said then made sense; He had no passport! He’d spent time living with his sister! Lack of possessions!

So, I asked him and yes it was true. I was totally gutted, devastated. I have a responsible job in education and 2 teenage children, how could I carry on seeing him now? Prison, crime and the world he’d moved in were totally foreign to me.

His crime was bad. I Googled him and there he was – a criminal. The local newspaper painted an awful picture but somehow I just couldn’t connect the two men together. I didn’t know this man in the newspaper. I only knew the funny, kind, caring man I’d been dating.

I ended the relationship, but I just felt so sad, it didn’t feel right. He too was disappointed with my decision, but understood.

But I couldn’t sleep for a week, I tossed and turned and felt so unsettled. I confided in a few close friends, most of them warned me to steer clear, told me I’d made the right decision. I did some research, read things online, looked at the Unlock website and forums. I then spoke to my sister- in-law who’s a probation officer. I was surprised at what she told me; “talk to him, ask him about his life, and find out about his sentence and the terms of his license”. I was surprised by her positivity. She told me many people turn their lives around after release from prison.

So I decided to see him again. I asked him why he hadn’t told me the truth, asked him what his license terms were, where he’d been in prison. He was honest. He apologised and admitted he was struggling to find a way to tell me about his prison sentence. After all how on earth do you tell someone (new and that you’re developing feelings for) that?

Over the past seven months he has met many of my immediate family and some of my friends. Most have accepted him. I have lost a couple friends because of my decision to carry on seeing him. These so called friends have never even spoken to me about Wes and have never even met him. They are fools! Narrow minded, judgemental and hypocritical. I don’t need people like that in my life. They aren’t friends.

Wes wants to move on with his life, he’s served his time and needs a chance to rebuild his future. In the time I’ve known him he has only ever been hardworking, caring, kind, loving, supportive and generous. I’ve learnt so much about myself too during all of this, I don’t judge people so quickly anymore, and people need another chance. Life is so short, I think if you mess part of it up, you need the opportunity to make the remaining bit worthwhile.

On Valentine’s Day Wes sent me a card, inside it simply said ‘Thank you for believing’. It made me cry.

By Carla (name changed to protect identity)

Election 2015: UKIP backs candidate with criminal record

UKIP has said it “backs entirely” one of its general election candidates, despite him having a criminal record.

Peter Bush, its candidate for Aberavon, has convictions for theft and arson, which are now spent.

UKIP said Mr Bush had “paid his debt to society” and “changed his life and the lives of many around him”.

The party told BBC Wales it was aware of Mr Bush’s convictions when he was selected.

‘Ancient history’

In a statement, Nathan Gill, UKIP’s leader in Wales said: “Peter, as a young man, made mistakes, which resulted in prison.

“But since that time he has changed his life and the lives of many around him.

“So much so that he has won a series of awards for his charity work, up to being nominated for and a finalist in the ITV Local Hero awards for Wales.

“We are proud to be a party that takes people for what they are, not for mistakes of the past.

“A party though tough on crime, is able to recognise that people can always turn a new leaf.

“We, unlike the other parties in Wales look at the individual, not just on their ancient history.

“In Peter we see a man that has, through his own hard work, not merely paid his debt to society but paid that debt many times over through his work. Would that other parties had people with similar drive to improve the lives of their neighbours”.

This content originated from: BBC website (2015), Election 2015: UKIP backs candidate with criminal record.

Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-wales-32519606 [Last accessed 30th April 2015]

Regulated by the FCA on a life licence

Since about 10 years ago, I have been employed full time by a nationally recognized registered Charity, as a Specialist Debt Caseworker. About a year before I started, I was released from prison on license after serving 22 years of a life sentence for murder. I remain on license of course and my conviction will never be spent.

My role as a Debt Caseworker is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This is a legal requirement of my employer and it is their responsibility to ensure that those they employ meet the required professional standards to fulfill their role which serves the best interests of our clients. My role includes working with vulnerable people, occasionally visiting people in their homes and taking responsibility on occasion for cash sums held in trust on behalf of clients to pay for their fees connects to particular insolvency procedures such as bankruptcy. It also involves liaising with partner agencies, particularly representatives of the Local Authority and negotiating with creditors regarding my clients’ finances.

My role also entails me representing clients in the County Court before District Judges, arguing before the Court why it should consider suspending Possession action on client’s property or suspending the execution of a Warrant of eviction due to mortgage or rent arrears.

My employer is fully aware of my background as I was required to disclose it at interview. I have been assured since that I was offered the role on merit, having been able to demonstrate to the interview panel a history of volunteering during the latter stages of my imprisonment and the first year of my freedom, as well as being able to persuade the panel that my years in prison had given me the time to reflect on my life, the course it had taken and the steps I’d taken to turn my life around.

As part of the recruitment process a CRB was requested which was sent centrally to the charity for whom I work. It revealed not just the murder but also a history of petty offending throughout my adolescence. The charity centrally sought assurances from my specific employer that I had disclosed but the final decision to employ me was left at the discretion of my employer.

By Philip* (name & details changed to protect identity)

Finding my place in the world through volunteering at Unlock

I was convicted of a serious offence towards the end of 2013. As a result, I lost my job, my reputation and my self-esteem and I attempted suicide during the police investigation. My wife, my family and most of my friends stood by me, but I had lost many things that were important to me. After several unsuccessful job applications I thought I would never work again.

Unlock advertised for volunteers in Spring 2014 and, having used the helpline and the information hub, I decided to apply. I was invited for interview and Chris, Debbie and the rest of the team were very welcoming.

I got the job and worked two days each week doing administrative work in the office. Chris and Debbie could see that I had much to offer and I set to work on a list of tasks that they had wanted to do but never found the time.

As well as enjoying the work, I also enjoyed the social interaction in the office and I enjoyed putting on a shirt and trousers and travelling to work each day. I felt normal again!

I think I made a positive contribution to the work of Unlock in the time I was there, but the best thing for me personally was when Debbie asked me to represent Unlock at a training workshop in London. I travelled up on the train, took part in the discussion, made some new contacts and came back with some useful information. This might seem strange, but it made such a difference to how I felt about myself. These were things that I did all the time in my old job, but now I felt normal again and part of the working world. Yes, I could still do it!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I was offered permanent paid employment a short time later. An old friend with his own business had a vacancy, he knew I could do a job for him and knew that I was trying hard to help myself.

However, I had “unfinished business” at Unlock. Chris and Debbie had been very good to me and I could not let them down. I did one day a week for a few weeks after I started my new job and finished off some work that I wanted to finish for Unlock.

I hope you will see from the above that Unlock helped me to find my place in the world after a very traumatic experience. They helped me to get back to work, but more than that I also made some new friends. We have kept in touch and I intend to keep it that way.

Thank you Unlock!

By Dave* (name changed to protect identity)

Second Hand – Giving somebody a second chance

Having developed a new hobby of ‘upcycling furniture’ I’d wandered into my local charity shop having seen a fantastic pine chest of drawers in the window, ideal for customising for my spare bedroom. Fantastic, lovely heavy piece of furniture, no damage, no woodworm – it’s mine.

As I handed over my £25 the gentleman who served me started chatting to me – ‘That’s a nice old bit of furniture, they don’t make stuff like that anymore. Once it’s been sanded down to take all that old varnish off it will come up a treat’.

It was only as I was about to say goodbye that it suddenly dawned on me that I’d parked my car at my office, a fifteen minute walk away and there were double yellow lines outside the shop, stretching for about a mile. I explained the situation to the sales assistant who told me that the charity shop had a car park at the back of the shop and I could bring my car around and park it in there. Alternatively, parking restrictions outside the shop were lifted after 5.30pm and so I could come back then. I told him that I had to get back to the office to see a client but I’d be back at around 5.30ish. He told me that although he usually finished at 5pm, he’d wait around and give me a hand carrying the chest out to my car.

As promised, back I went that evening. As he carried the chest to the car and I attempted to clear the boot to accommodate my new bit of furniture we got chatting. I told him that I’d opened my own ‘letting agency’ about a year ago and that the business had really started to take off over the last 6 months. I asked him about his work at the charity shop. He seemed so much younger than all the other people working in there and was the only male. I must say, I was intrigued by this young man (who I later found out was called Nigel).

He told me that he’d been volunteering in the charity shop for about 15 months, originally it was because he had to and now because he wanted to. He’d received a conviction for ‘fraud’ and been given a prison sentence but just before release, he was able to go out on a ‘temporary licence’ and volunteer in the charity shop. He’d volunteered for the last 6 months of his sentence and when he was released, he’d continued to volunteer. He told me that ‘his ladies’ in the shop really looked after him and as he didn’t have a job and had few prospects, there was nothing stopping him continuing to volunteer.

‘Where you working before your conviction?’ I asked. ‘Oh yes’ he said ‘Would you believe it, I was a Business Manager for a large corporate organisation. I earned good money, had a wife and child, lovely house and drove a nice car and I was a stupid ******. I had a new secretary at work, she was young, pretty and made me feel important. At the time my wife had just had the baby and I really seemed to have dropped down the pecking order. I couldn’t believe this young girl was interested in me and I became totally infatuated. I wanted to impress her, buy her nice things and take her to nice places. To fund this, I started to ‘borrow’ money from my employers.

The inevitable happened – my wife found out and left me. I took time off work with depression and then the company’s auditors found out about the money. I was sacked and ultimately charged with fraud. What a mess, still it could be worse. Although my wife and I are divorced now, she has started to let me see my son. All I want now is to get back into work so that I can help support my child and hopefully rent a flat so that he can come and stay with me at weekends – I’m staying with mates at the moment so he can’t do that.

Wow. I’ve got to say I was truly shocked. I’d never met a ‘proper criminal’ before although I’d read plenty of newspaper stories about ‘convicts’. I’d always wondered what gave these people the right to just take what didn’t belong to them when I had to work so hard for everything I had. I’d read about people in prison having TV’s and Play stations and it certainly didn’t sound to me like they were being punished.

Nigel was a real person though – stupid he may have been but I remember when I gave birth to my daughter. If I’m honest, for a while she did become the focus of my whole world – perhaps my husband had felt neglected to. Did a TV and a Playstation make up for being separated from your child – definitely not. He’d been punished, why couldn’t he just start again. His wife seemed to have forgiven him, couldn’t society do the same. This guy’s talent was being wasted, I’m sure he’d be an asset to somebody.

Lightbulb moment!!!!!! He’d be an asset to me. I’d been looking for ages for somebody to help with the administration of my business. I’d placed an advert with the job centre but to be honest the people they sent really didn’t seem that interested in working. I’d put an advert in my local supermarket but hadn’t had one response. Would it be too much of a risk taking on a ‘fraudster’. What if he did the same to my business? How could I protect myself? What would the other staff say? My head was spinning. ‘I’m looking for an administrator’ I said ‘Would you be interested in coming along for an interview next week?’

The interview went well. Nigel was skilled, knowledgeable and totally motivated. He already had some ideas for better utilisation of the systems we had in place. I wanted to offer him a job but when I spoke to friends and family they all told me to avoid him like the plague. ‘The business is too new, you just can’t afford to take the risk’ my husband told me. But I knew I wanted to give this guy a second chance and all I needed was somebody to tell me that I was doing the right thing.

I came across Unlock doing a Google search and decided to give them a ring. I knew they helped people with convictions but would they be able to help me. ‘They’ll just tell you to employ the bloke’ my husband said ‘You can tell they’ll be on his side’. I explained my dilemma to the Unlock Helpline. They talked through the job and Nigel’s convictions. As my husband said, they were all for me giving Nigel a second chance but they also helped me to more practically assess any risks so that by the end of the conversation I knew that I’d be offering Nigel a job but I also knew that I’d done everything that I could to protect my business.

It was the best decision I’ve ever made. Nigel’s been with me a while now and has transformed the organisational side of the business. In lots of ways the relationship I have with him is very different from the one I have with my other staff. Nigel is ‘an open book’; I know everything about him and trust him implicitly. I think he truly has my company’s best interests at heart and has made my family and friends eat their words.

I know it’s easy to be judgmental and hard to take a risk but sometimes it’s worthwhile looking a little deeper and giving somebody a second chance.

By Lisa* (name changed to protect identity)

Is honesty the best policy after you’re arrested?

So far, I haven’t got a criminal record. I’ve been arrested, I’m under investigation by the police and I’m on bail. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, I’ve been told different things by the police and my solicitor so I’ll just have to wait and see. As a result of my arrest, I lost my job which has had a massive impact on the family income and also on my self-confidence.

I know that the police investigation can go on for a while and I realised a little while ago that I couldn’t just sit around waiting for things to happen to me. I needed to get some purpose back into my life, a reason to get up in the morning and more importantly – a salary.

A couple of weeks ago, I managed to find a new job in a sales office. Not my dream job but at least I was earning and not just sitting around at home. The working hours didn’t conflict with the time I needed to sign on for bail so it all looked good.

I’d been working there for about a week when the Managing Director approached me. He’d seen my CV, noticed that I had a finance background and asked me if I would consider becoming his accountant . This came as such a shock that I told him I needed to have a think about it and would let him know.

I went home, spoke with my family and decided that I could:-

Say nothing and take him up on his offer
Say nothing, decline his offer and continue in the job I was doing
Tell him the truth

I picked the 3^rd option although I knew that legally I didn’t have to say anything – after all, I haven’t been charged with anything.

Unfortunately, the next day the MD wasn’t in but one of the supervisors was and she asked me whether I had made a decision. Well, I took the bull by the horns and told her the truth. She looked pretty shocked, told me it was the first she had heard of this and said that as the MD wasn’t around I should go home. She said she’d speak to him over the weekend and would give me call to let me know ‘what they were going to do with me!’

I worried about it all over the weekend and a week later I still hadn’t been contacted. I had convinced myself that they didn’t want me back. Although I knew that I’d done nothing wrong, I didn’t really want to work somewhere that I wasn’t wanted. I’d tried to be honest, I’d made a stupid mistake but it seemed that honesty just didn’t pay.

Well, the following week the MD rang me. He wanted to know lots of details about the case (it was pretty intensive stuff and I got really upset as I was explaining it to him) and he told me that ‘although it wasn’t a deal breaker for him’, he would need to seek further advice and would get back to me with his decision.

Great news – he did come back to me. He told me that I was wasted in the sales office and that he wanted to offer me a more admin type of role. He actually created a new job especially for me and I am absolutely loving it. I’m so relieved that I’ve got a job without having to fear that somebody will find out or I may say the wrong thing. I’ve certainly got a job up until my court case and, all being well, I’ll get some sort of community order which will mean that I can carry on working when all this is over.

Just goes to show, there are employers out there that are willing to give people a second chance and I’ll be doing everything I can to repay the trust that has been placed in me.

By Hannah* (name changed to protect identity)

Developing success from failure

My world came crashing down in November 2010 when I was given a 33 month prison sentence. I had never been in trouble before and the reality that I would be spending time at Her Majesty’s pleasure started to dawn on me. The first few weeks in were naturally hard, I missed both family and friends along with my freedom. I had decided from the outset that this would be my one and only time behind bars.

I’d be the first to admit I was never academically gifted, so decided to use my time in gaining some qualifications and certificates. I tried my hand at bricklaying, a bit of plastering here and there and plumbing. This wasn’t for me though, so I decided to speak to the prison education department. I then discovered the Open University, a way of me gaining a degree without the need to attend university full time. I successfully applied to the Prisoners Education Trust for a grant to cover the course fees and enrolled onto a business course.

It was now March 2012, time to be released and I was nervous to say the least. My accommodation had fallen through 3 weeks earlier due to outside interference. Fortunately I had been communicating with my probation officer in the weeks leading up to my release and alternative accommodation had been sourced. I found myself in a hostel, not a million miles away from home but in a town I knew nobody.

I had worked all of my adult life and long-term unemployment was not on the agenda. I knew my conviction would go against me, but determined as ever I secured interviews for a wide range of jobs. I eventually signed with an agency in May 2012 and left the hostel for rented accommodation. The next 18 months saw me work tirelessly to make ends meet. Throughout this period I continued to apply for permanent positions without success, all but one stating my criminal conviction made me a ‘risk’ to employ.

It was now September 2013; I was off licence and was enjoying more freedom. I had applied for and was successful in my application to a family manufacturing company. At last I had that security of a permanent job behind me. The HR Manager said to me after I disclosed my criminal conviction, “As a business we have an obligation to employ a range of people who make up the local community, and those with criminal convictions, whether spent or unspent, fall within this category”.

I married my long-term girlfriend in June 2014 and we are now planning for the future. I am now halfway to completing a degree in Business and Environmental Management. To cap it all off, I have an interview next week for a management position at the family manufacturing company.

Dale Carnegie once quoted “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”

By Paul*

Embassy interview to travel to the US

I had visa interview this morning (Paris Embassy) and was granted. Passport coming back end of week. My record – 2 arrests – 1 caution for D&D in 2005, 1 for ABH in 2010 which resulted in 10-week tag, 260 hours community service, £400 fine from Magistrates.

I applied for B1/B2 visa from US Embassy in Paris, as currently at university in France. Filled in standard visa application, whereby I declared both caution and conviction. I also got ACPO certificate but this is not mandatory for visas from France. Booked appointment online, and turned up with confirmation of payment, Stamped Addressed Envelope, photos, etc.

Arrived at 0730 (smartly dressed in suit and tie!), given a number, and gave all docs for registration. about 20 mins later, was called to a screen with US immigration officer. There was no private room, just a rank of booths not unlike a bank branch. She asked me what I was doing in France, what I wanted to go to the US for, and how was I going to finance it. I gave her a copy of my uni course confirmation, and my bank statements.

She then asked me to give more detail about the 2 arrests / convictions which I did, and also handed over the ACPO certificate. After she tapped away on a computer for a bit, she then said “I just have to go and check something”, and 5 minutes later she came back and said, “Everything is fine, and you’ll get your passport back with the visa in 2-3 days”.

Total time at Embassy – 1 hour. Obviously there will be some minor procedural differences between Paris and London, but the key takeaway is that the system can work, and the bureaucracy not be so bad. Clearly it’s not all quite there, as I won’t believe the final hurdle is overcome until I set foot on American soil. It’s a major weight off my mind, however.