theForum

Spent/Unspent


https://forum.unlock.org.uk/Topic24437.aspx

By Ab123 - 13 Mar 17 11:52 PM

Can you explain here what it is mean?

What is different between Spent and Unspent?
I still can apply the job if I am still on spent and unspent?
Thank you
By JASB - 22 May 20 9:23 AM

Simon1983 - 21 May 20 5:20 PM
Hi JASB

Hope your well, let me try and clear this up, you need to look at it from two sides of the coin.

There is no direct relationship between the rehabilitation of offenders act and the sex offences register.

In your situation you were sentenced to 4 years, that gives you a rehabilitation period of your 4 year sentence plus 7 year buffer period.

In the normal situation after that period your conviction would be classed as spent.

Your trouble is that you have an active court order, in this instance a SOPO/SHPO, and while this is active then the rehabilitation of offenders act does not apply and your conviction remains unspent while the order is active. 

This apples not only to SHPO/SOPO but any active court order for eg 

  • Criminal Behaviour Orders
  • Compensation Orders
  • Confiscation Orders
  • Disqualification from driving
  • Football Banning Orders
  • Forfeiture Orders
  • Restraining Orders
  • Sexual Harm Prevention Orders
The ROA states that while a court order is active then your conviction remains unspent. If and once a court order expires then your conviction becomes spent.

If the SHPO/SOPO is not dated or for an indefinite period then the conviction is unspent until you are able to take it back to court normally after five years  to either get it revoked or amended to either 2,5,7 or 10 years period.

On the other side of the coin you have the sex offenders register, if you are on it for life, under new guildlies as you know you can apply to come off 15yrs from the date of your first notification period (your first notification period normally being the first time you register 3 days after leaving prision.)

Sadly the small print of the sex offenders register is that if you have an active court order you will remain on the register, until said order is revoked or expires.

When SOPO first came out then CPS and judges did not understand this, and were giving SOPO at a greater length than time on the register, so at one stage you had people that should only have been on the register for maybe two years on it for nearly 10 years

It should be that a SHPO/SOPO should run the same period as the time on the register 2/5/7/10/indefinitely 

So as per BenS example you have an offender that was sentenced to 12mths with a 10yrs SHPO and 10years on the register.

Under normal circumstances a person with a one year sentence would have a spent conviction 4 years after his sentence is completed (the 12mths) meaning after a total of five years his offence is spent. The trouble is this person was given a 10year SHPO there for while this order is still active his offence will still be deemed as unspent and still have to be disclosed.

As a convicted sex offender that is on the register for life and has a SHPO/SOPO you can rip the ROA up and forget about it, because until you remove the court order your conviction remains unspent, so you are looking at an average time of 15yrs until your conviction becomes spent, as most people would not be able to get there SHOP/SOPO remover by a count until they look to apply to come off the register.

Hope that helps

Stay safe  


Hi
Thank you for the reply.
I was aware of the majority of the reply but thanks for the detailed reminder. It was just the confusion on the one point as I explained. Again it seems the system's monitor's are inaccurate.

For Info:
Your final sentence is something I have been working at since ending the "licence" period of my sentence. I have been successful on removing the majority of my conditions within 6 years of the court order and now concentrating on the final two conditions that; being pedantic, have no justification or linkage to my actual offence. This point seems to be acknowledge as my PPU is receptive to supporting my application in the near future. In other words, these two allow 'regressive questioning' opportunities on the yearly visits.  That would then give me 5 years to plan the SOR application. For clarity I prefer to work with my PPU so gaining their support even though past the 5 year requirement; obviously in the end I will/do proceed without it in a constructive and challenging manner.

Strange fact Smile
Re: 'your first notification period normally being the first time you register 3 days after leaving prison.' This default example has caused confusion with various "authorities" due to their not reading my file. In some discussions they are unaware that I was on bail for 2 years before sentencing - even though I admitted my quilt at the initial Police interview. The strange part was that it took a year for me to be able to enter a plea in court and so I registered on the SOR for the first time a year before I was sentenced. This obviously means I was already 3 years into being on the SOR at the point of your example.

As ever keep safe and writing.