Help regarding enhanced CRB & application for Paramedic training.

[characterreformed]

Used to be a naughty boy. Have 2 cautions for possession and one for shop lifting from my mid teens to 25 years of age. I would like more than anything to start a new career as a paramedic (something I wanted to do as a kid before I went a bit... er.. astray. Is there any hope for me, or am I kidding myself? In all my dealings with the police I have been supremely courteous. Used to view law breaking as a kind of gentlemanly game (yes i was stupid) so once caught I didn't give officers grief. Was thinking I might write to the police to have the cautions removed... Am I kidding myself? shall I just find something else to do with my life? something that doesn't require proof of my reputable nature? Any comments or advice would be much appreciated. Thanks Kindly

Jay.

Possession of cannabis. The shop lifting incident occurred whilst stoned. I walked out of a supermarket after paying for some goods, I picked up another item on my way out and in a stoned state walked out without paying. The embarrassment was great, and the shop staff didn't seem to care that I had more than enough cash to pay for the item on me or that I was stoned. Obviously I no longer take recreational drugs of any kind and have not done so for 5 years now... I'm very concerned that my misadventures as a youth are now coming to bite me on the arse....

The offences you mention don't automatically ban you from working with children or vulnerable adults. It is therefore down to the judgement of the individual NHS trust as to whether the offences are relevant. The length of time since the most recent offence and the degree of remorse you show are likely to be taken into account. I would recommend disclosing these cautions before the CRB check takes place.

When showing the remorse that prh47 talks about, be wary of saying 'the staff didn't seem to care that I had enough cash on me to pay....or that I was stoned'.
You chose to het stoned, and you should take full responsibility for your actions whilst in that state.

Your comments above seem to me as though you expect special treatment from the people you steal from, which wouldn't sound like remorse to me, if I was deciding whether or not to give you a chance.

I have a friend/colleague who has a number of criminal convictions for various things including burglary, theft (and possibly assault iirc). When he applied to do a healthcare course it obviously came up on his CRB and he had to 'explain himself'. It was fine and he got a place and then a job when he qualified. I think if you're contrite and show that you've since turned your life around then you should be OK. They might want to know how you deal with stress now (so they know you're not going to start half-inching morphine if you have a bad day at work!) Also try and demonstrate some insight into what led you to do those things in the first place.

HTH and good luck.

The important thing is to declare this when completing the CRB - they will show up, and uni will make an individual decision. However if someone doesn't declare and then disclosure shows up university may take a dim view of non diclosure

Thanks everyone. I'll come back here in a few weeks and let you know how it goes.

I've only just seen this and hope it's not too late. In theory cautions are removed from your record after five years as long as there have been no further cautions or offenses. In practice this is rarely done automatically and you would need to write to your local police station and ask to have them removed once the five years have elapsed since the last one. Hope the new career works out.

I'm sorry but that is wrong. A caution remains on your record forever. It will only be removed in exceptional circumstances, for example, if the arrest was unlawful or it became clear beyond doubt that there was no offence. Any caution you have ever received will appear on a CRB check.