Nick Booth

Making me violent | 6 September 2012

What happens when the Criminal Records Bureau gets things wrong

issue 08 September 2012

When the Criminal Records Bureau says you’re a violent criminal, it’s not easy to put the record straight. Recently, I decided to volunteer with The Samaritans. It won’t surprise you to hear I found out a good deal about myself in the process. What might surprise you is that what I found out was that I was a violent criminal.

The revelation came after I’d sent off my details for what is know as an ‘enhanced disclosure’ check by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). Anyone who applies to work with children or vulnerable adults is usually checked, so I wasn’t anxious about it at all. In fact, by the time the results came back, I’d already passed the selection process, completed the training and done a few shifts taking calls from vulnerable people. Then the CRB came back. The enhanced disclosure for me contained the following conviction details. ‘Threatening abusive behaviour to cause harassment/alarm/distress on -Public Order Act 1986 S.4A(1)’.

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