I'm a criminal!

[laurajb]

I am confused because a caution isnt a conviction

[superted]

you've hit the nail on the head for me, there's a big grey fuzzy line about the whole 'conviction' term. A caution is a simple, 'Don't let me catch you doing that again' talk, no court, no conviction!

[nickbrazel]

The most important thing is - DECLARE IT! The reason that imperial took their offer away from the convicted student was because he was dishonest. He did not declare that he had committed a crime and had been convicted for it - despite being given lots of opportunities.

Medicine is one of those areas in which dishonesty can cause a lot of agro. The GMC take dishonesty very seriously and you could be struck off.

Example - when applying to F1 this year I had to declare that I had received a verbal warning from a police officer. It was over an extremely minor thing and was really just a telling off but I was advised to declare it none the less. Then, just in case it comes up in a CRB check, the GMC/your future employer cannot claim that that you lied.

Declare everything!

[impatient]

A police caution remains on one of the many police databases which could be referenced for a CRB search. If you are unsure if your caution will appear, you can CRB check yourself before you complete your application for medicine.

this link allows you to fill a CRB check onlinewww.disclosures.co.uk

that said i agree with some of the other threads, starting your career by lying about your past is not a good idea.

[Singh.Simran]

Originally Posted by laurajb

Forgive me for butting in but you have to list all convictions. that means you have to have been convicted by a court???

A caution is baiscally a telling off from the police is it not??

It is often worth, in application forms and such, listing things under a conviction, e.g. caution, reprimand, in case they come up in further checking (as will occur for med. applicants, through the enhanced crb.)

Of course if you know it will not come up, then i'd say it's clever NOT to admit.

[impatient]

I know its a bit long but here a cut and paste from the Police National Database, that should answer all the questions posed....

A caution is a formal warning that is given to an adult who has 2admitted the offence. If the person refuses the caution then they will normally be prosecuted through the normal channels for the offence.

Although it is not technically classed as a conviction it can be taken into consideration by the Courts if the person is convicted of a further offence.

Cautions are now covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 so will become spent immediately (apart from conditional cautions which will become spent after 3 months). This means that if you are asked on an application form if you have a caution you can reply 'no'. For conditional cautions it would be after 3 months since the caution was issued, up until that time you would have to reply 'yes'.

This applies retrospectively so applies to anyone who has ever had a caution, irrelevant of when it was given.

However, this does not mean that it will not be disclosed on a CRB check. It will not normally be disclosed on a standard check but maybe disclosed on an enhanced check and on a subject access request - see below for more information.


Depending on the type of offence cautions are 'stepped down' after a set period of time (5 or 10 years). This basically means that they will only be visible to police staff and not other agencies who do checks. The exception to this is if a person is the subject of an Enhanced Disclosure and then if relevant it will be disclosed.

Even after five/ten years the caution can still be disclosed if you apply for certain types of jobs, i.e. police, teacher, or jobs working with children and vulnerable adults. It will be disclosed if it is relevant to the job you are applying for.

Cautions will always remain on a person's record but as explained above will be stepped down after 5 or 10 years. There are only exceptional circumstances when a caution could be removed from a person's record and it is anticipated that such incidents will be rare. Examples of such possible circumstances are that it was found that the original arrest or sample was unlawful or where it was found beyond all doubt that no offence existed. Any requests that fit the above criteria should be directed to the Chief Constable of the force concerned.