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Care Worker's Criticism Over Criminal Checks
Loraine Nugent was found not guilty of theft and deception in a court case more than three-and-half-years ago but has been plagued by the experience ever since.
The Stevenage resident discovered that detailed information about the case and sensitive background material about her life have been sent out by the Disclosure and Barring Service – formerly the Criminal Records Bureau – on behalf of the police to potential employers.
Despite being acquitted, employers have been privy to information about the death of her ex-husband and how her fiance was killed in a motorbike accident.
Mrs Nugent said she had lost two jobs because of the details provided and had been at risk of losing her current community support worker job at the Guideposts Trust.
The 55-year-old said: “I couldn’t believe it when I was shown what was on the criminal record check. I had proved to a jury I was completely innocent and yet here was this document going into all this detail about me which had been rejected.”
The mother-of-three has also applied for two stints of unpaid voluntary work, where the criminal record checks that had to be made on her came back clear.
“Why is it you can do the same job either as a paid employee or as a volunteer, but for the paid job, a criminal record check comes back with all this detail?” said Mrs Nugent, who lives in Ellis Avenue in the town.
“I think it’s wrong that when it’s a voluntary role it comes through clear. I’m worried people are at risk and nobody seems to know why it’s different.
“I will fight this as it’s not right. I don’t think the police are doing their job to protect the vulnerable.”
A spokesman for Hertfordshire Constabulary said: “Police have the power to disclose not only convictions, cautions, reprimands or verbal warnings shown on the police national computer but any other information that they may hold which the chief officer of the force concerned feels relevant for the post applied for.
“The consideration on disclosure has to be carefully weighed up and be recorded and justified in accordance with Disclosure and Barring Service’s quality assessment framework.”
A spokesman from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) said: “The DBS does not control or dictate what information is provided on a certificate.
“The chief officer of every relevant police force must provide any information which, in the opinion of the chief officer, might be relevant to the application and which ought to be included in the certificate.”
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