Here's a couple of examples of individuals whose criminal records are not currently eligible for filtering:

Michael (not his real name). When he was 17, Michael was convicted of theft of a coat from a market stall. He was fined £30. Ten months later, 23 days after turning 18, he was convicted of stealing a motor cycle and driving without insurance. He was fined £50 and sentenced to 24 hours at an attendance centre. That was 36 years ago; he's come a long way since then. He's now in his fifties. However, Michael's long-forgotten past has come back to haunt him and he's concerned about his work as a finance director. He could lose his job and a career that he's worked hard for.

Anita (not her real name). When she was 11, she was playing with a lighter in the girls' bathroom at school and set a toilet roll alight causing around £100 of damage. She was arrested for Arson and told that the reprimand she was given would come off her record when she turned 19. Then after months of being bullied in secondary school, she was involved in a fight. She and the other pupil were both arrested for Actual Bodily Harm. She was encouraged by the police to accept a reprimand rather than challenge it in court and was told it would come off her record in five years. Now nearly in her thirties, she's a qualified English teacher. However, not only was her record not removed like she was told it would be, but her two reprimands come up on enhanced DBS checks and will do under the current DBS rules for the rest of her life. The hopelessness of trying to find work has led her to working abroad and to bouts of depression and anxiety.

Under the current system, Michael and Anita's criminal record will be disclosed for the rest of their lives. We disagree.

Find out what we're doing to challenge this in the Supreme Court

Today, we've launched a CrowdJustice appeal to help us raise money to pay for our legal costs in intervening in the Supreme Court next month.  We'd love it if you could:-

• Make a donation, it doesn't matter how much it's for, it all helps; https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/clean-slate/
• Share the link on Twitter, Facebook or with your colleagues and friends.

Many thanks for your support.



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