Will a No Further Action police investigation affect security clearance?

[SereneRoseRobin]

I am looking for some perspective for a cousin who is going through a very stressful situation regarding his professional future.

Last year, my cousin was arrested in connection with allegations of harassment and aggravated harassment relating to his abusive stepdad and stepbrothers. It was a family drama that went too far. The stepdad was also arrested for assault relating to this case.

He was bailed for a period while the police conducted an investigation, which included examining her electronic devices. He fully cooperated with the legal process, and I am pleased to report that the case resulted in a No Further Action (NFA) disposition.

He is now concerned about how this might affect her ability to obtain a security clearance (SC) for his job in the RAF.

Since the case resulted in an NFA—meaning no charges were brought and he has no criminal convictions—does anyone know if this typically appears on a security clearance check? Will this result in an automatic rejection, or is there a way to proactively address this during the vetting process?

Any advice or personal experiences would be appreciated. Should he get a lawyer?

Just be honest. It will flag. But hiding it looks worse. SC clearance needs you to have integrity. No need for a lawyer.

It will appear yes.

lawyer will not help.

The official line back when I was involved with the process which admittedly was back when dinosaurs roamed the earth was to tell them everything because they’ll find out anyway and it looks worse if you hid it.

No need for a lawyer, it will show up and he needs to get ahead of the curve and declare it.

Sorry who is 'her'. You referred to your cousin and his step dad and brothers but I'm confused about who the her is you keep referring to.

Your cousin needs to be honest because they’ll find it all out. No one can tell you if it’ll affect their chances as we dont have enough specifics.

The whole point of vetting is to make sure you always tell the truth. An NFA wouldn’t be an issue, but lying would

I have SC. I was investigated for a serious allegation made by my partners ex. Which was entirely malicious. I contacted ukvetting via their portal and made a declaration. Vetting is not about being squeaky clean - it’s about not hiding skeletons in your closet that would allow bad actors to gain leverage over you. Leave you vulnerable to blackmail etc and compromise the employment that requires you to hold sc /dv etc .

Tell your relative to get ahead of the curve . If they do declare it nothing will happen. If they don’t - then could easily lose clearance.

Exactly this. The fact that he was arrested is already on record.
To try and hide it shows lack of integrity, in the services this is what will prevent the clearance (or later get you sacked), the lack of integrity.

did u pass the sc in the end

DH works in an environment where they all have SC to a high level. The ones who fail are the ones who don't disclose in general
Some people have passed despite things that you might think would disqualify them but they declared it all on the forms and were questioned but passed ok