Minor Criminal Conviction

Paul121 wrote on Mon Nov 1, 2021 6:29pm:

Hi Graham,

I’m legally trained (previous duty solicitor in the police station and Magistrates court) so am speaking with some credibility on the matter!

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A minor conviction for a s39 assault/battery or an alternative offence of common assault, both purely summary offences, should be filtered off a DBS check after 11 years (or 5.5 years if under 18 at the time of the conviction). This would be the case even if you applied for an enhanced DBS (the most stringent level of checks) required for teaching or medical roles etc. In the extremely unlikely event of a custodial sentence for a conviction in assault, filtering is not applicable.

Please note, that the above advice would only apply if the conviction was for the most trivial type of assault, dealt with exclusively in the Magistrates court as a summary offence. If the assault was the next level up, referred to as s47 Actual Bodily Harm, the offence would not qualify for filtering and would remain on record for life I’m afraid.

As for information held on Police National Computer, shown on ACRO applications, the above model is similarly applied under the Step Down procedure. In other words, a conviction for basic assault should no longer be shown on your certificate after the required time has elapsed.

I hope this helps and puts your mind at ease.

graham2004523 wrote on Mon Nov 1, 2021 6:46pm:

Hi Paul,

Thank you.

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Offence was 2001 and carried out at a magistrates court in Scunthorpe. Basically a matrimonial dispute. Acrid ex wife.

Think I received an unconditional discharge, long time ago so I cant even remember being fined or having any other compensation charges.

In a previous life I was a Royal Naval Recruiter with access to u18s and vulnerable adults. My 1st Enhanced DBS (2004) came back with the case listed. However subsequent Enhanced DBS checks came back NONE RECORDED.

Recently completed (March 2021) a basic DBS check. Under the section of Records of Convictions, Cautions, Reprimands And Warnings came back as NONE RECORDED.

Do you think this would be ok.

Thanks so much for the very swift reply, mind almost at ease.

Graham

Paul121 wrote on Mon Nov 1, 2021 7:06pm:

Given what you have mentioned, I am 99.99% certain that the Police Certificate will come back clear or more specifically show ‘no trace’ on ACRO. The reason I alluded to DBS checks, is that people are much more familiar with them and the rules are pretty much interchangeable with ACRO under t...

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...he step down model (or filtering on DBS). Unfortunately, I cannot say with 100% certainty that the certificate will be clear as I’ve dealt with a couple of these in the past that have contained errors. I’m pleased to advise that such errors are quickly rectified and the bulk of applications I’ve done have been accurate.

A basic DBS would not reveal a 20 year old conviction for assault as it would be deemed spent anyway. If you have had subsequent enhanced DBS showing ‘none recorded’ on that section, then you are absolutely good to go! Rest assured, your conviction is extremely low level and in the worst case scenario, it would not prevent your application from being successful!

Paul121 wrote on Mon Nov 1, 2021 7:06pm:

Given what you have mentioned, I am 99.99% certain that the Police Certificate will come back clear or more specifically show ‘no trace’ on ACRO. The reason I alluded to DBS checks, is that people are much more familiar with them and the rules are pretty much interchangeable with ACRO under t...

Read more...

...he step down model (or filtering on DBS). Unfortunately, I cannot say with 100% certainty that the certificate will be clear as I’ve dealt with a couple of these in the past that have contained errors. I’m pleased to advise that such errors are quickly rectified and the bulk of applications I’ve done have been accurate.

A basic DBS would not reveal a 20 year old conviction for assault as it would be deemed spent anyway. If you have had subsequent enhanced DBS showing ‘none recorded’ on that section, then you are absolutely good to go! Rest assured, your conviction is extremely low level and in the worst case scenario, it would not prevent your application from being successful!

RichT wrote on Tue Nov 2, 2021 2:41pm:

In addition to the previous very helpful posts, please find attached the Step Down Model, as per the ACRO website.

https://www.acro.police.uk/Acro/media/ACRO-Library/STEP-DOWN-MODEL-v2-1.pdf

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From this, you should be able to find which category your offence is listed under (A, B or C), then Adult and Non-Custody - which will tell you the time period after which the conviction is stepped down.

You may find that your certificate shows something like 'no live trace', as opposed to 'no trace', which indicates a spent conviction, rather than no convictions. Either way, this should cause no problems for your visa application.

Hope this helps!

Paul111 wrote on Wed Nov 3, 2021 1:56pm:

Hi - we had our NLV about a month ago, and I know that the ACRO check must be in depth due to the amount of time it took them to issue the certificates.

Hope this helps.

graham2004523 wrote on Mon Nov 8, 2021 9:07am:

Hi Paul, 

How long did your NLV process take after the interview at the consulate, and which consulate did you use. We are in Stockport so I know we would be using Manchester !