Need advice asap from police officer

[Studentnurse1981]

I'm very embarrassed and remorseful about this so please go easy ! About 6 years ago after my dad died I had a full breakdown and went into a shop and stole a bottle of perfume (no idea why as didn't need it) , I got caught and police were called to the store ( it's a big department store) , I was shaking and terrified and apologised profusely . The police said that the store had agreed not to take things further and the police said I must pay for the perfume and stay out the store for 9months . I never went back to the store for over a year and paid the perfume plus a bit more back to the store . I don't know why I enemy did this ? I have never even stole a penny chew from a sweet shop and have never been in trouble before with police or after . Iv worked for NHS as a HCA for 16 years and have now been accepted on nurse training course at uni . Thy are doing a dbs check on me now and I'm terrified that this will come up ? Can a telling off from the police be stored on the police database ? The police took my name and address just to check I had no previous convictions or record on that horrible day but they never made me sign anything or arrested me . Thy just gave me a stern talking too and told me to go on my way ? I know I am a horrible human for doing that but I promise Iv never done any other bad things and really want to be the best nurse I can be . I'm terrified this may come up on dbs check ? Iv googled and most people are saying A telling off does not show and you have to have been cautioned or arrested for that to go on your record ? Can anyone please help me as it's making me ill . Any police officers on mumsnet ??

Thank you so much everyone . My mind is easing . Thank you for being so nice as I really deserve to be told how terrible I had been xx

Surely you've had a new dbs in the last six years? At my work HR complete for us and we just sign it.

I'm a nurse and feel 99.9% sure that will not be on your dbs, if you didn't receive a caution.

People can do strange things when grieving so please do stop beating yourself up you're clearly not a bad person.

Not taken to a station but was handcuffed and had a ride in a police car (to a hospital though). I did worry for a while if it would come up on records but definitely doesn't come up as I have had several enhanced DBS checks for each place I work at.

Your employer cannot do a dbs without your permission, nor can it be done without up to date documents. Most trusts also wont pay for it anymore and when one is done you get a copy of it. I'd assume you havent had one.

Unless it's was formally recorded it won't show up. Even if it did it wouldn't necessarily mean you wouldn't get your place. I'm an admissions tutor for a course which requires a DBS and if anything shows up we contact the applicant for more information. They're allowed to submit a statement explaining any mitigating circumstances. We then convene a panel and decide whether to offer a place or not.
A situation like yours would take us all less than 5 mins to decide you weren't a risk and you'd be offered your place.

DH is a copper and says while it won't come up in a standard DBS, it might come up in an enhanced check. As a previous poster said, in this area at least it's still recorded and with your name against it. Even without a caution. This does not mean an automatic barrier to employment however. Where I work, we'd find out what had happened and why. In your situation, we wouldn't bat an eyelid.

Go and ask at the station.

You need to forgive yourself. You were hurting and not responsible for your actions. Please be kinder to yourself.

I really dont think it will come up. I had a similar incident were i put a 99p article on my pram, paid for my shopping chatting away to shop assistant and forgot about it. Left the shop to be chased in the street by the security guard (who i walked back to laughing as i assumed id left my card in machine) to be told the cashier had reported me for shop lifting. The police were called, i was devastated. They watched cctv which showed i hadn't concealed item. Police more or less said it was a waste of time but gave me a ticking off and told me to be more careful. I was banned from the shop for life, had to sign a form which said i could be charged upto £300 for the s.guards to review footage (nothing ever came of that) and police took my name/address etc but no charge/caution. When i say i was devastated- its an understatement. I was totally beside myself. I couldn't beleive how it had escalated from a genuine mistake. I had my baby with me and the staff were coming in and out of the room to "look" and laugh at me. It could all of been prevented if the cashier had said "did you want that item on your pram!". I later found out that staff are given incentives to report theft which explains how the situation escalated.

Anyway, i have since had enhanced CRB checks and nothing has shown. Im sure it will be fine. You could ring DBS and ask if your unsure. Also, in the (extremely unlikely) event it does show up you will be entitled to discuss it with your employer. I know staff have serious offences on their CRB check which can be explained. Try not to worry xxx

CaseImunderyourspell

You really don't know whether she's been recorded or not.

In my Force if Officers attended this job today they would have to record a crime for theft, attach the OP's name to it as 'the offender' and then show it as no further action. It is not a conviction and would not show up on a standard DBS. There is also a possibility it may have been regarded as an 'RJ' ie recorded as restorative Justice resolution as the the op paid and the store didn't want to prosecute. It really depends on the Force and their policies. I know there is one force being taken to judicial review to have names removed from crimes showing them as 'offenders' when there has been no prosecution.

In the past they may not have recorded crime but they may have recorded the incident on the computer system so there was an audit trail. It really would be down to the professionalism of the officers involved.

The whole reason for bringing in enhanced DBS checks was the issue with Ian Huntley was that there were a number of incidents which in effect were crimes of a sexual nature but they either weren't recorded as crimes just intelligence and were not disclosed when he applied for jobs and those recorded as crimes were also not disclosed because he hadn't been convicted.

This is why we now have enhanced DBS checks so that information on a person which may be relevant to the potential employer is disclosed even if there was no prosecution or conviction.

I wouldn't have thought in the OPs case it would be disclosed even if recorded but if she wants to put her mind at rest she could ask for a Freedom if Information request to see what information the Police do hold on her. She doesn't need to say why but it would certainly put her mind at rest to see if there is anything recorded at all.

If you had a criminal record, it would not necessarily stop you from working as a nurse/doctor/police officer etc. It would depend on the details of the offence. It doesn't sound like you have a record, so I'm pretty sure it's nothing to worry about.

Agree re the enhanced check. I’ve come across a situation where a client (I’m a lawyer) had an investigation that he didn’t even know about show up on a DBS check. It was quite shocking and I tried to get his record cleared but it would have required him to spend a lot of money in legal fees which he just didn’t have

OP, I made a silly mistake when I was younger and ate a sandwich whilst shopping in sainsburys which I then didn't pay for.

The police were called and I thought they were giving me a caution (was taken to station, finger printed etc) although I never received anything in writing.

Fast forward a few years and I had to do a DBS check for a job, I confessed on my application but when the DBS came it said 'nothing recorded'.

So I think it is unlikely given what you said that you would have anything recorded for this.

Also I now work in a role where part of my job is to check disclosures and any cautions older than 6 years are disregarded. so I think you may be ok even if it does show up.

If it was a one off, a long time ago, most employers would not consider that a barr to employing you.

I do understand how anxiety provoking it is though.

My partner is an NHS nurse and got a reprimand or caution - can't remember which, sorry - as a teenager for something a lot more serious than what you did, which was still on his DBS when he applied for the nursing degree. He wrote a letter explaining what had happened, that he had moved on and learnt from it, and that he was very ashamed of it. He included this in his submission and got on the course; then when he applied to NHSP and then to full-time jobs after qualifying, he also supplied the letter pre-emptively alongside references etc.

The police record has never caused him to miss out on a job, although it's sometimes held up the process. Being honest and up-front about it has probably helped though. I don't think that your talking-to will show up on a DBS as they didn't press charges, but I'm just letting you know this to calm your nerves a bit. Even if you do have a criminal record, it doesn't mean all doors are closed to you.

If you're really worried, can you pay for a DBS for yourself first, so that you can check whether anything comes up? I really don't think it will, and if I were you I just wouldn't mention it, but it might help settle your mind. Good luck!

The advice to the OP sounds accurate.

However, this is a warning note that some people don't always understand the nature of a caution or Penalty Notice for Disorder.

Article: Driven to suicide as a result of an enhanced DBS certificate – the problem with the disclosure of police intelligence

A young woman made pig noises at men she suspected to be undercover police officers. They were.

They told her that if she accepted a Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND) and a fine she would avoid having to go to court. Believing that this was her best option, Ann accepted the PND.

Ann thought that was the end of the matter but of course as her enhanced DBS certificate was to show it most certainly was not. When she took the document to her employer, they told her that she’d acted dishonestly in not disclosing the PND and she was instantly dismissed.

Unlock comment: We hear from many young people who have accepted PND’s, cautions etc without having the ongoing affects fully explained to them by the police. Many don’t realise that it may have an impact on their job prospects in the future and, as we have seen from Ann’s story, have tragic consequences.

www.the-record.org.uk/unlock-people-with-convictions/driven-to-suicide-as-a-result-of-an-enhanced-dbs-certificate/

Can’t you just go to the police station and ask? Set your mind at rest. Take some I’d with you

ID

If it's a caution it will be documented & on police record. All be it not an actual conviction but it's highly likely they have you a caution.

You can apply to get a copy of your records from the police & I guess that's maybe worth doing.

If you don't declare this & it shows up as a caution you will be deemed dishonest & that would go against you regarding your application.

OP grief is a horrible thing, sugar coat it all you like but the fact is that you still stole from a store! It's shoplifting! I mean if I was looking to employ you, how would I know you could be trusted dealing with vulnerable people & their belongings?!

No doubt this will be on your police record as a caution & you will have to declare it now.

You are going to have to suck this up & the consequences of your actions well may backfire given the industry you wish to work in.

OP, I’m concerned that you are still suffering such disproportionate guilt over a minor thing committed while you were suffering from grief.
You made reparation at the time, you paid for the item, you apologised, you accepted a telling off from the police.
It is high time you forgave yourself and moved on. Please stop torturing yourself with misplaced fears that it will end your chosen career.
You sound like a very conscientious person, who would make a good nurse.
If you struggle to forgive yourself, take it to God in prayer. Jesus told us that all sins are forgiven if we are genuinely repentant. You wouldn’t be this hard and unforgiving to anyone else - why do it to yourself?
Let God’s loving forgiveness unlock your own, and let you move on from this, to your fulfilling and happy future exploring your vocation as a nurse. My best wishes and prayers for your wellbeing and your career, OP. God bless.

Aww I feel awful for you, worrying about it so much

It will honestly be fine, try and relax.

Greenmeerkat do you know if a voluntary interview will show up on an enhanced dbs check?

(I can't remember whether the application procedure flagged up the offense and he retrospectively had to account for it, like the situation @BlaaBlaaBlaa describes, or whether he volunteered the info in the first place, but after that he definitely pre-emptively mentioned it while applying for stuff)

A casual warning in store won't show up on a DBS. My dad is a police officer and when he was a PC he used to give people who had been caught committing a petty crime (like yours) an unofficial warning with the promise that if they get caught again then it will be on their record - so you will be fine x

States here that it isn't consistent across all police forces that you have to 'sign the caution '

hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledgebase/implications-accepting-police-caution/

I’m one of my jobs I arranged a lot of dbs checks. If anything’s came back I would tak to the person involved about it. A lot of stuff like drunken incidents and the like would come back and the applicant would be embarrassed about not knowing it was on their record. If they genuinely didn’t know it was there and had a plausible explanation (and as long as it wasn’t a crime that made them inappropriate for the role) I would sign them off as suitable. I very much doubt it’s on your record I would have people admitting to all sorts and have clear dbs but if t is you will be given a chance to explain.

Betty
Did you read the op properly?
Did you get how anxious and remorseful she is!
Your post was too harsh, and lacking insight.
Inaccurate too.