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For people with criminal records
For people with criminal records

Story Type: Successes

I’ve been fortunate that my stupidity hasn’t been held against me

On paper Keith’s conviction for arson sounds terrible but, the key to his success has been his ability to disclose it openly and honestly to any college/university or employer that asks.

 

I left home at the age of 16 and for the next two years stayed with one of my best mates and his family.

By the time I was 18 I was holding down a job and had managed to rent my own home. I had some good mates and every now and again, I did what every 18 years old does, I met up with friends, had a few too many drinks and got drunk. However, for me, the consequences were far more serious.

On the day in question, I’d been to the pub and then invited several friends back to mine for a barbeque. Just as we were about to light it, the rain started and, probably due to the influence of drink, I decided it would be a good idea to move the barbeque close to the back door. Unfortunately this led to the kitchen door catching alight.

One of my friends called the fire service but we’d actually managed to put the fire out before they arrived. However, my landlord reported the incident to the police and I was convicted of arson and received a community order. In my opinion, ‘arson’ sounds a whole lot worse than what happened that day – 30 years ago.

Five years after I was convicted, I applied to run a summer play scheme for children from the ages of 5 – 11 years of age; I’m pleased to say that my application was successful.

For the past 10 years I’ve been doing voluntary community work on a local housing estate and at the same time I also studied with the Open University and gained a degree in mathematics and astronomy.

Last summer I applied to do teacher training. I already had a DBS certificate for my voluntary role and I’d signed up for the DBS Update Service so it was relatively easy for the teacher training college to see my DBS certificate. I nervously handed over the hard copy of the certificate and disclosed my conviction only to be told that I needed to meet with the Safeguarding Officer.

I was really anxious about the meeting but again, I disclosed the conviction and explained the circumstances surrounding it. The Safeguarding Officer told me

When someone applies for the course with a conviction, we look at two things. One is the offence, the circumstances and would it make the person a danger to children and adults. The other is would the offence stop that person from gaining employment as a teacher. In both of these, the answer is no – so welcome onboard.”

I’m now three months away from qualifying as a teacher and my life has completely changed. I’m the happiest I’ve been for a long time and I’m looking forward to the next stage.

I don’t cherish the feeling that I’ll always have to declare my conviction and I know that I may not get some teaching positions because of it. My crime was not malicious or nasty, it was a naïve 18 year old being stupid and foolish. It’s part of my past which I’m not proud of but accept that it happened and have now shown society what I’m capable of, and where I want to go.

By Keith  (name changed to protect identity)

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My life has been enriched since challenging my SOPO

Source: Adobe Stock

A series of terrible incidents relating to his criminal record led Gerry to apply to have his SOPO revoked with a very positive outcome.

Back in 2009 I was convicted of a downloading offence which resulted in a community sentence and an indefinite SOPO.

In the years following my conviction I started to rebuild my life and was doing very well working in finance as well as doing some freelance writing on the side until one of my colleagues found out about my conviction. For some reason, she’d decided to google me and saw the details of my offence in the local paper. She told me that if I didn’t quit my job, she would tell everybody about my conviction and, fearing the reaction from other work mates, I came clean to my boss. Although he was shocked, he was very fair and I could have possibly kept my job but I felt I had no option but to leave.

Without a main income I started to rely on my freelance work but the work wasn’t always regular and building up my business was slow going. I couldn’t keep up with my rent and was eventually evicted by my landlord but I was lucky to be able to move in with my family.

My copy-writing business was starting to take off when the Twitter stalking began. Over the course of a couple of months various new, and immediately suspended Twitter accounts sent me links to the local newspaper story about my conviction and one included the cheery message:

Always watching, always in pain”

This individual also worked out where I was working and bombarded the contact form on the website with messages including the newspaper link in an attempt to get the boss of the company (who just happened to be me!!) to fire the person named in the story (also me). Sadly the anoymous accounts also tagged a couple of clients who I haven’t heard from since.

It was at this point that I started to search the internet looking for advice and came across Unlock. I was pleased to see that there was some light at the end of the tunnel but it would involve things like changing my name and the name of my business and I also found out that I probably shouldn’t have been given an indefinite SOPO.

I was blessed with a PPU officer who was happy to support my application to have my SOPO scrapped or, failing that, to have some sections of it removed in line with more recent Court of Appeal rulings. Not only that, but unlike other PPU officers I’d had before, she told me that I didn’t need a solicitor to represent me, that she’d known many people who’d done their own applications and that she thought I was more than capable of doing this myself.

I was expecting to have to wait a while for a court date but I actually got a hearing very quickly. The judge said he was minded to grant my application but had received no response from the police so wanted to wait for that before granting it.

Months went by.

Towards the end of last year, I had a visit from my PPU officer who apparently knew nothing about my court hearing or the fact that the police had failed to show up. She promised to chase it up and to her credit came back to me the same day to say that the force’s legal services team had not received any notification of the case. I contacted the court who agreed to send all the relevant paperwork again.

A further month went by and, having heard nothing, I made a further application to the court. I pointed out that if the situation were reversed and the police were seeking an order, the judge would have made a decision in my absence and I suggested that the same principle should apply.

Not long after I received a copy of the police reply to the court which stated that although they never supported applications to discharge SOPO’s, they had no objection to my application. They asked to be excused from further hearings but listed dates that my PPU officer would be available if the judge insisted on them being present.

I’m delighted to say that my SOPO was revoked which meant that my conviction was also spent and I came off the register.

SOPO’s can be over-reacting and over-long but as my experience shows they can be challenged without the need of expensive solicitors. The police may delay things but stick with it, talk to the court and hopefully you’ll have the same result as I did.

By Gerry  (name changed to protect identity)

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A journey from entering the Koestler Awards to studying at the Royal Drawing School

Source: Koestler

This post originally appeared on the Koestler Arts website and is reproduced with permission and thanks.

I found my creative side about 12 years ago whilst I was serving a six-year sentence in a young offender institution. I was locked up for 23 hours a day, in a single cell, in HMYOI Brinsford and had minimal contact with anyone outside of the prison walls. But, I did have a pencil, and after seeing other people’s artwork on the wing, I began to draw on any odd scraps of paper that I could acquire, and when they ran out, I drew into bars of prison issue soap.

I was soon transferred to HMYOI Stoke Heath, and although I struggled to get into the art class, I did have access to more materials in my cell. I would spend my days working in the tailoring department and attended vocational training courses, but in the evening I would draw. I drew photographs for other inmates, mostly of their family members or pets, and charged them two shower gels for each one. I got pretty good. An art tutor from the education department had heard of me and my work, and when we met she gave me a 2009 Koestler Awards entry form. She explained what Koestler Arts was and encouraged me to apply. I did and six months later I received a letter saying my artwork would be exhibited in a Koestler exhibition in London.

At this point I had already been entrusted enough to be given day release, to work in the Staff Mess just outside the main gate. I spoke with Wing Officers, Senior Officers, the Education Department and the Deputy Governor to see if they would allow me ‘day release’ to attend college and finish an arts course that I had started before my prison sentence. I received the same response from each; ‘this isn’t going to happen’. So I went to the Resettlement Department and explained how far I had been rehabilitated, that I had this piece of work in an exhibition, explained my plans and asked for their support. They set up a meeting with me and the Governor, and somehow I managed to convince her to set up a ROTL scheme with a local college, something that hadn’t been done in that prison before. A month or so later I received an offer to interview with two art tutors at New College in Telford.

I was rejected from my first four university choices for having a criminal record. So, I decided to call up the fifth and final choice and plead with them to at least just meet me. I was offered an interview, and then a place, and I moved up north to study a BA in Fine Art at the University of Sunderland. Towards the end of my degree I received an offer to exhibit at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art in a solo show as part of their New Talent programme.

I got back in touch with Koestler Arts, and over a period of time, they invited to take part in their trip to the Venice Biennale, gave me a mentor, invited me to curate a part of their 2014 exhibition Catching Dreams and gave me a job as an Arts and Exhibitions Assistant.

After a few years of working in this role I applied to study, and to my excitement and slight disbelief, was offered a place at the Royal Drawing School on their post-graduate programme. I worked part-time at Koestler, part-time on my arts practice and full-time on the Drawing Year. It was a very busy 14 months. At the end of the course I was awarded the Chairman’s Prize and one of my drawings was selected to join the Royal Archive at Windsor Castle.

I hadn’t made may pieces about prison after I left but for some reason, I felt it was the right time to explore some of those memories. During my time studying, I made 99 soap carvings about my memories of prison, and I decided to enter them into the 250th RA Summer show, curated by Grayson Perry. The piece was selected and went on display in the Summer of 2018. I had written a short story of each memory carving and after the success of the RA, decided to turn them into a handmade book.

Koestler gave me my first bit of encouragement in the arts, and this was all that was needed, for me to believe that I could build a second chance. I now have a voice.”

By Lee

A Comment from Unlock

If you’ve been inspired by Lee’s story then you may be interested to know that the Koestler Awards 2020 is now open for entries. Find out more here.

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I had to face the consequences of breaking the law, why shouldn’t local councils?

Image source: Adobe Stock

Having discovered that his local council were acting unlawfully by requesting a copy of his subject access request from the police, Mikey wasn’t content with a simple ‘sorry’ from them.

 

 

Last year I reapplied to go on the councils housing list as in 2017 I’d been refused due to my criminal conviction which was classed as ‘antisocial behaviour’.

Not long after I’d made my application, I received a letter from the council saying that they were unable to progress my application until I could provide evidence that I had no further convictions. I was told that I could do this by making an online Subject Access Request (SAR) to the police.

However, when I visited the police website a warning flashed up alerting me to the fact that where third parties were asking you to supply them with an SAR, then this would be considered ‘enforced subject access’ which was a criminal offence under Section 184 of the Data Protection Act. The information on the police website confirmed that employers, insurers, housing providers etc could only ask for a basic Disclosure and Barring Service check as evidence of unspent convictions.

This experience with my local council made me realise that before I did anything else related to my housing application, I needed to have a much better understanding of what I lawfully needed to disclose to housing providers, employers etc. As I researched online, I came across a disclosure calculator run by Unlock and, having input all my sentence details and submitted the form, it came back that my convictions were now all spent. This was fantastic news as I didn’t think they’d be spent until 2023.

I went back to the council to raise my concerns about the enforced SAR, happy that if they were to do a basic criminal record check it would come back blank. The council merely apologised and acknowledged that what they’d done was unlawful and promised that they would update their policies and procedures.

I really wasn’t happy with their response and decided to raise my complaint to the next level, requesting that the matter be investigated further. I made it really clear that I’d been punished for my criminal offence and that merely saying “sorry” for breaking the law didn’t really suffice! I advised them that as enforced subject access had been unlawful since March 2015, it was likely that hundreds if not thousands of other applicants could have also been affected.

The council responded to my complaint promising to backdate my housing application to 2015 and to prioritise my housing application. I’ve got to say that I took this offer with a pinch of salt. However, the next time I bid on a property I was told a couple of days later that the property was mine if I wanted it.

I didn’t think for one minute that I would have a place to feel secure in like I do now. I’m in recovery from drug and alcohol abuse and I’d previously shared a house with two mates; one drank heavily and the other smoked marijuana which made recovery extremely difficult. Now I have my own space I feel calm and secure.

I’m so grateful to Unlock’s disclosure calculator. If it wasn’t for the fact that my convictions were spent I’m sure that I wouldn’t have been so tenacious in my pursuit of achieving a result from this complaint.

I broke the law whilst I was in the madness of my addiction, however that doesn’t define who I am and I should be given the opportunity to live somewhere safe.

By Micky  (name changed to protect identity)

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Reflections on the last decade from a person with a criminal record

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As we enter a new decade, Amy looks back at her experiences over the past 10 years.

Stepping into 2020, I’m sure you can’t have failed to notice the huge amount of people that joined in the Instagram 10-Year Challenge, posting photographs of themselves in 2010 and then in 2020. Don’t worry, I’m not going to join them, because unlike Reese Witherspoon or Tyra Banks, I actually do look older not younger than I did 10 years ago.

However, as 2020 dawns, I’ve taken some time to reflect on the previous 10 years and thought I’d take the opportunity to share this with you.

When I woke up on 1st January 2010 with a humongous hangover I knew for sure that the next few years were not going to be great for me. I’d been charged with fraud just prior to Christmas and was expecting to go to court early in 2010.

My solicitor had told me that I was definitely looking at a prison sentence and it was likely to be around 3 years. I’d spent Christmas just going through the motions but every time I did something it was as though I was doing it for the last time and I was continually fighting back the tears. I know this sounds incredibly dramatic but please understand, my brain was mush and I really didn’t know what the future held for me.

My solicitor was right about the prison sentence, although the judge decided that a 3-year sentence wasn’t long enough and gave me 4.5 years instead. Funnily enough, I actually felt a sense of relief at this point – the investigation and court case had come to an end and I could now start my new life, whatever that may be.

I’m not going to go into a blow by blow account of prison life. For those of you that have been, you know what it’s like and for those of you that haven’t been – I wouldn’t recommend it. There were only really two stand out moments of my time in prison, the first was winning an appeal against my sentence meaning it was reduced from 4.5 years to 3, and the second was being released.

1st January 2013 and I’d been home for 6 months. I had a job working in retail which was a totally new field for me and was just about to move into my own house with my husband and son (we’d all been living with my mum following my release from prison). As 2013 would see my licence come to an end and my regular meetings with probation finish, I had a pretty positive feeling about 2013.

On 1st January 2014 I did what lots of people do on New Year’s Day and booked my first holiday abroad since 2006. I was off licence so didn’t need to get approval from my probation officer and I was in a new job (the same one I’m in today). Another year of good things to look forward to.

The years between 2015 and 2019 seem to have flown by, some have been better than others and there have been times when my criminal record has reared it’s head again. My choices around who to buy house insurance from have remained limited due to the need to disclose a fraud conviction although I was able to revert to a high street insurer for motor insurance in 2015 as they only wanted me to disclose criminal convictions I’d received in the last 5 years.

Being asked to act as Executor of my aunt’s estate made me question whether I’d need to disclose details of my criminal record – I didn’t – and when my niece got engaged in 2017, I’ve since had to think long and hard about applying for a visa to attend her wedding in the States at the end of 2020 – I still haven’t decided.

And so to 1st January 2020.

No hangover for me. New Year’s Eve was spent surrounded by family and friends. I didn’t need alcohol to blot out the bad stuff; I wanted to remember every part of the new memories that I was making.

My son and his girlfriend both have ‘big’ birthdays in 2020 and there was lots of talk around the dinner table comparing the pros and cons of a party -v- family holiday. I feel blessed that prison didn’t alter the great relationship I had with my husband or son. It was a difficult time for them but they supported me throughout my sentence and after.

In a strange way it’s probably fitting that my conviction becomes spent in 2020 – at the start of a new decade. I’m sure many people would look back over these last ten years as the worst of their lives but I don’t see it like that. I can remember 1st January 2010 as if it were yesterday – my life was chaotic and I was a mess but the shock of my arrest and being sent to prison was the wake-up call I needed to reassess what was important to me.

They say that every face tells a story and if I were to take the Instagram 10-Year Challenge I might not look younger but I look genuinely happier.

By Amy  (name changed to protect identity)

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Forgiving myself was harder than being forgiven by others

Following his conviction for murder, Toby never believed that he deserved to be happy or to move on with his life. Read about his journey to forgiveness.

 

If you ask the general public what offenders are the most dangerous or what the most heinous offence is most will say ‘murderers’ and ‘murder’. Back in 1999, I became that person.

I’m sure there are a lot of people reading this that would love me to go into great detail about my crime – I’m not going to. It might make my story more interesting to some but it’s not something that I’m proud of and for anybody reading this who may have lost a friend or family member in similar circumstances, I don’t want to sensationalise what I did.

My crime truly was the lowest point of my life and almost as soon as it had happened I knew that I’d never be able to live with myself. As I saw my victims family being interviewed on the television I knew that I had to do the right thing and I handed myself in to the police.

From that day on I found myself on some type of roller-coaster and just went with it – police interview, court, conviction, prison. I can’t really remember the first couple of years in prison, I didn’t speak to anybody unless I really had to (this included my family) and I didn’t engage with any day to day activities in the prison. I was constantly punishing myself, believing that I wasn’t worthy of any type of kindness or compassion.

I’m not entirely sure when the turning point came, probably about the time that my brother visited me to tell me that he and his partner were expecting a baby. He made it clear that he wanted me to be part of my niece or nephews life and harshly told me:

Stop being so b****y selfish. You’re not the only one affected by your actions so grow up, stop feeling sorry for yourself and make the rest of your life matter”

Nobody had spoken to me like that. Everybody pussy-footed around me, trying to make me feel better but he was right. Although I didn’t deserve anything from my life, my family did and so the transformation started.

I embraced life in prison and found that by helping others I started to feel a bit better about myself. I took on peer roles and became a Listener and generally just helped the other lads on the wing with letters, apps etc. My niece Phoebe was born and I relished every letter I received from my brother and his partner telling me what they’d all been up to.

Eventually my release day arrived and my brother Tom was at the prison gates to take me to the approved premises. I wouldn’t have survived these early days without the support of my family and although I was living over an hour’s drive from them they visited me every weekend without fail.

Six months after I’d been released I’d found myself a job in a supermarket and a small flat to rent. However, more excitingly my brother had decided that the time had come to introduce me to my niece for the first time – she was 8 years old.

As happy as this occasion was, it was tinged with a certain amount of sadness. Phoebe knew all about my past and didn’t hold back asking me questions that other’s had avoided asking but I always tried to be as open and honest as I could. From that day on we became firm friends but it made me sad to think that I’d never have a family of my own – let’s face it, it was unlikely that I’d ever find a woman that would want to be with me.

Although I’d got myself a job with a supermarket that was deemed ‘offender friendly’ I was told by the store manager that they’d never employed anybody with an offence as serious as mine. However, he told me that he valued my honesty and openness and supported my application. I was offered a full time job on the night shift; terrible hours but I was grateful for anything. I worked hard and before long I was promoted to a supervisory role followed by the opportunity to apply for a trainee manager’s position.

I loved the job and the people I worked with although I often felt guilty that I hadn’t disclosed my conviction to my colleagues. It was whilst I was attending a health and safety course as part of my manager’s training that I met Dionne. She was also a trainee manager from another store although in my eyes she should have been a model. She wasn’t just beautiful to look at, she had a wonderful personality as well and, at the end of the two day course, I invited her out for a drink.

After we’d been out a couple of times I knew that I had to tell her about my past. I had no doubt that I could trust her not to gossip about me to anybody but I really wasn’t sure how she’d take the news of my conviction. I thought of all the ways I could break it to her – practised in front of the mirror, wrote her a letter etc but in the end I invited her round to my flat and told her over a cup of tea. She didn’t say anything to start with and then told me that she needed time to think through what I’d told her.

“That’s that” I thought. “I’ll never see her again”

The following evening she appeared at my door and told me that she wanted to know everything. As difficult as it was, I knew that I owed her that much and so took myself back to that fateful day. At the end of my story we were both in tears and I knew that whatever the outcome was, I was so glad that I’d had the opportunity to be honest with her.

Meeting that woman turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to me. She didn’t walk away, she told me that she wanted to be with me forever. Since then, life has treated me well – I’m now a department manager but even better, at the age of 46, I became a Dad for the first time.

I can never make up for what I did but I can do all I can to be the very best person I can be.

By Toby  (name changed to protect identity)

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An education, a job and a future; look how my life has changed

Despite a pretty awful childhood, the support of her foster family enabled Maddie to follow her dream of becoming a social worker.

My childhood sounds like something from a Martina Cole novel. I came from one of those families that you see on the Jeremy Kyle show.

Dad left before I was born and my mum was an addict – drink, alcohol, controlling men!! There were many times I’d come home from school to find her passed out either drunk or coming down from a high and I got used to patching her up after her latest boyfriend had used her as a punchbag.

It was after a particularly bad beating that social services stepped in and I was ‘removed from her care’. I was told that it wouldn’t be for long, she just needed a bit of time in rehab to get herself clean. I saw her a couple of times after that but it was obvious that she wouldn’t be able to beat her addiction.

Aged 12 and living with a foster family I realised that I’d never live with her again. I found it hard to accept that she’d put drugs and alcohol before her child and, just as she’d given up on me, so I gave up on myself.

I started mixing with older kids staying out late, smoking and drinking cider. My foster parents tried everything they could to help me but I didn’t want to know.

With the genes I had, it wasn’t really surprising that I’d dabble with drugs, a bit of weed to start with and then harder stuff. It was a slippery slope and to fund my habit I started to offend – shoplifting, theft, possession.

My life was out of control but my foster family stuck by me, even when I treated them appallingly. After one particularly nasty argument my foster ‘mum’ quietly and calmly told me that she was worried that one day I’d be found dead or end up in prison.

I’m pleased to say that neither of these things happened, instead I became pregnant at 15. I wasn’t sure who the father was but I knew that I wanted to keep the baby and that I had to sort myself out. I stopped drinking and taking drugs and started to eat regularly and healthily. After a lot of meetings with social services it was agreed that I could stay with my foster family and we started to prepare for the birth.

I was 5 months pregnant when I miscarried. “Just one of those things” I was told “Nobody’s fault”. But how could I not blame myself; drugs, alcohol and babies don’t mix. I don’t know what I would have done without my foster family, they were with me every step of the way and made me realise that I had to do something to make my babies life count.

I knuckled down at school and stayed on to do my ‘A’ levels in the sixth form. I wanted to be a social worker but I worried that the issues I’d had with drink and drugs would stop me doing so. As it turned out, this wasn’t the problem but my criminal record certainly was.

I applied to 3 universities; two refused me and one offered me a conditional offer subject to seeing my DBS. When the certificate arrived I was told that my application would need to be risk assessed by a panel before my offer could be confirmed.

Following the panel meeting, the university contacted me to let me know that my application had been refused. They did however give me the opportunity to appeal the decision.

I spent a lot of time on my appeal letter making sure that I set out the circumstances that had led to my offending and the reasons why I’d chosen to change my life. I got advice from organisations that worked with people with convictions and also contacted the Health and Care Professions Council who are responsible for regulating the work of social workers to make sure that I would be able to enter the profession after I’d gained my degree. Wherever I could, I provided evidence to back up my arguments.

I was delighted to hear that my appeal had been successful and I loved every aspect of studying. I worked hard and ended up with a 2:1. Part of my degree involved a placement with a local council and when I’d finished my degree I was offered a full time job. I’ve been there for just over 8 years now and have never once regretted the choice I made.

I doubt whether I’d have achieved what I have without the support of my fantastic foster family. They played (and continue to play) a huge role in my life and it’s for that reason that I’m now considering becoming a foster carer myself.

I’m not sure a Martina Cole novel would have ended this way but I’ve got no complaints.

By Maddie  (name changed to protect identity)

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I fought the big guys and won – getting a newspaper article removed

Having successfully applied to have links to her name removed from search engines such as Google and Bing, Lucy decided to make a request to the newspaper to have the source article taken down.

My conviction was 25 years ago but it had made the press and whilst it wasn’t that much of a big deal at the time, in the age of the internet, I soon found it to be a major problem. I found that I couldn’t apply for the jobs I wanted to because even though my conviction was spent, people could easily look me up on Google and see the press articles.

I considered changing my name but for me it wouldn’t have helped. If I’d had to have a criminal record check I would have needed to disclose my previous name and the reason for changing it. Employer’s or hiring staff would then be able to look me up and see everything.

For years I avoided the jobs I wanted and felt really down about it. It seemed so unfair that I was not able to move on properly with my life, knowing all the while that these articles were out there, lurking, just waiting to be found.

However, everything changed for me when I came across the Unlock website and a page about applying to Google to get links to your name removed. I read the page over and over and then set about filling out the request form, not just to Google but for several other search engines.

A couple of weeks later I was surprised to get a notification from Google, Bing and a few others agreeing to my request. I typed my name to test it out and sure enough nothing appeared.

A website was, however, still linking to the articles and when I contacted them to find out why, they explained that as they received their information upstream, they were unable to remove it; I’d have to go directly to the source (this was a national newspaper).

I wrote to the newspaper outlining my reasons for wanting the article removed and provided them with the correspondence from Google and Bing which confirmed their agreement to remove the links. The newspaper refused my request.

Feeling really deflated I contacted the Unlock helpline to find out whether there was anything else I could do. They advised me to make a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

This time the newspaper got their legal team involved but they still refused my request on the basis that the articles were still of significant interest to the public. They might have been trying to scare me but I felt empowered after all my research. I appealed their decision mentioning the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and how I had a right to live a life free of being periodically stigmatised by their articles. I stated that the articles were no longer in the public interest, that they were irrelevant, excessive and they infringed my right to live as if I had not committed those crimes; I copied this letter to the ICO.

A week later and another email from the Head of Legal at the newspaper, they agreed to my request to take down the article.

How amazing is that! A David and Goliath situation and little me won!

I’m delighted that after so long I can apply for the jobs I want without worrying about being ‘Googled’. I didn’t have a clue that I could do anything about getting this article removed or where to begin but once I knew it was possible, I wasn’t going to give up.

By Lucy  (name changed to protect identity)

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Credit where credit’s due – opening a bank account with a fraud conviction

Despite struggling to open a basic account with two high-street banks because of her conviction for fraud, Janice found the answer to her problems in the shape of her local Credit Union.

I’d been in prison for almost 4 years when I became eligible to move to open conditions.  As anybody that’s been through the system knows, it’s at this point that you can start to go on town leave, go home for a couple of days each month to re-establish links with your family and get a paid job which will hopefully better prepare you for your release.

Everything about the open prison system is designed to set you up for the future and I hadn’t been there very long before I met my personal officer. We had long discussion about my future plans including what type of work I wanted to do upon release and what I could do whilst I was still in custody. He also asked me whether I had a bank account which my wages could be paid into.

As I’d been convicted of fraud, I wasn’t sure whether I’d still be able to access my existing bank account or whether it had been closed down. My personal officer explained to me that the prison had a link to a local bank and I’d easily be able to open an account there. He suggested that as there was some uncertainty around my existing account, this might be the best option for me.

A few days later an appointment had been made for me with the bank and off I went to fill in all the necessary paperwork. It didn’t take long for the bank to contact me and tell me that they were unable to open my account. They didn’t explain the reason for this and all my personal officer could tell me was

Sometimes that happens. It might be because they know you’re in prison for fraud.”

This was a bit of a blow and, as soon as I was able to go into town for a visit, I headed off to Metro Bank to try to open an account with them. I’d heard that this was a “new kind of bank” and that opening an account with them would be “simple and hassle free”. The application process was indeed simple and I was told that my current account card would be posted to me within the next couple of days.

Two weeks later and I still hadn’t received anything from the bank and so I called in to find out what was going on. The lady I spoke to couldn’t really help but told me that a letter had been sent to me. Sure enough, a couple of days later I received a letter from the bank informing me that they were unable to open an account as there was a CIFAS (Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System) marker against my name. I’d never come across this before but I quickly realised that it was likely to cause a problem for me in the future.

I started to do some research as to other options open to me and discovered that I might have to try opening a managed account or get a prepaid card account. It looked like there might be some costs attached to these and that really put me off.

I continued with my research and before long found the details of my local Credit Union. I’d always thought that Credit Unions just offered savings accounts so I was surprised to see that they did in fact offer a current account which gave me a visa debit card and cash back rewards. There were no credit checks and apparently anybody could open an account irrespective of their financial history.

I downloaded the application form and within a week my account was set up and I’d received my visa card. I was a bit nervous about using the card the first time thinking it might not be accepted but there was absolutely no problem at all. The Credit Union account was a great option for me and I can’t recommend them highly enough.

By Janice (name changed to protect identity)

Comment from Unlock

Unlock worked for 9 years on a banking project to improve the accessibility to basic bank accounts for people in prison (or just released). However, as Janice’s case demonstrates there can still be barriers for people with fraud convictions who have to consider alternatives to high-street providers. The options available can vary significantly and we would always encourage anybody looking to go down this route to explore carefully what’s on offer.

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Lets be inclusive not exclusive – a possible solution to re-offending

Andi is of the firm belief that inclusion is at the heart of preventing re-offending. Read how his own experiences have shaped his views.

I had a childhood that was plagued with crime, poverty, drugs, violence and adversity. This meant spending some time in care, school exclusion and heavy drugs use at an early age.

I was convicted and sentenced to 18 months YOI at 17, twenty months YOI at 19, four months at 21 and then two years as an adult at 22.

I have always worked in between these sentences and my offences were alcohol or substance misuse related. I got work through recruitment agencies and chose to never disclose my convictions. I believed that I would get the job first and prove that I was a hard worker, then if they found out, I’d explain that this was the reason why I didn’t disclose.

In 2007 whilst I was sweeping the floor in a warehouse I heard that the Leeds Youth Justice Service were looking for volunteers. I thought I might be good at working with kids like myself and help them avoid making similar choices and mistakes to me. I also felt it would help me achieve a career I thought I deserved.

As I was going to be working with kids and needed to have an enhanced DBS check, I disclosed my convictions. I explained that I had qualifications from prison but didn’t know how to put them to good use and I managed to convince them to let me volunteer with the service. This was the evidence I needed to show that I had the skills to turn my unfortunate life around.

Whilst volunteering, a temporary paid opportunity arose working as a support worker for a sport programme in partnership with a local rugby club. I was amazed when I discovered that my application had been successful and that I’d be paid to work with kids they said were ‘hard to reach’ when in fact they all seemed to hold their hands out to me.

Staff at Leeds YJS saw how well I worked with the kids and how we formed relationships based on trust; we spoke together, related to each other and perceived the world in a similar way. It wasn’t long before I was offered the chance to be a sessional worker; although this meant I didn’t have the security of a contract, it was a risk I was happy to take.

18 months later, a full time job became available and, confident that my skills and knowledge were commensurate with my colleagues, I applied and got the job. However, when it came to my contract of employment having to be drawn up by HR, they had some real concerns about my criminal record. My line manager was apparently told by HR

It’s a risk taking him on and, if anything goes wrong, you’ll have to pay the consequences”

Luckily my line manager knew me reasonably well and knew all about my criminal record. I’d managed to build up a good relationship with him and he was happy to fight my corner. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he’d chosen to turn his back on me; he had a mortgage to pay and a family to support and being told that it would be his fault if I messed up was unfair. It might have been too much for him and stopped him from giving me a chance.

However, he did take the risk and I’ve been working for the service for the last 12 years. I’ve become a specialist in my field and qualified in Youth Justice in 2013. I’ve created programme after programme that have supported children in desisting from offending and therefore reduced the number of potential victims. I’ve also written a book called “Your Honour Can I Tell You My Story?”

As people with convictions, we’re in a unique position to assist others to make better choices. However, due to the DBS process, we’re the least likely to obtain such positions. Lots of us are disadvantaged from the start of our lives. 25% of adults in prison were in care and up to 42% excluded from school.

Criminal records are a barrier, however a lack of education, gaps in employment history and an inability to articulate our stories without employers believing we are shirking responsibility are also barriers.

Inclusion is the heart beat of preventing re-offending so we must focus on this. We must find a way of better regulating the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act to ensure employers are not discriminating against people on the basis of their convictions. People with convictions have so much to offer and like me, will forever be grateful to the organisations that believed in us and recognised our strengths and not just the ‘risk’ we pose.

I believe living in a risk averse society is a significant factor in why our re-offending rates post custody for young people and adults are so high. Probation don’t always assist offenders in this area focusing instead on public protection. They often create further barriers by sharing risk information with employers when the individual chooses not to.

This is not strengths based and I don’t believe this is an approach that keeps the public safe. Yes we need to protect the public but each case is different. People that are seeking employment are trying to move away from offending. If I’m right, we are socially marginalising this particular group and increasing the risk of re-offending so an alternative approach is required for those upon release from custody with inclusion at it’s core.

By Andi

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