I'm looking here and on Unlock's site for answers to various questions, and only finding half answers and false assumptions on many things. It would be good to have solid, definitive answers, reviewed by experts and backed up by consistent confirmations of real life experiences, as it seems to be the blind leading the blind and ultimately a lot of bad advice being given out here. There are also very few users it seems, probably because of that.

The law is applied inconsistently by courts, lawyers and police, even though the very point of it is to be fair and equal. The difficulty in finding good quality information about different people's experiences allows such abuse to take place. It would be much better if one could go to your PPU for example and say "500 other people had their SOPOs discharged after 5 years this year so mine should be as well" instead of them each applying the rules however they see fit.

While the forum also is very hierarchically structured, that makes it harder for information to be in one place, and instead the good information is mixed up with the bad information.

P.S. sorry I should have put this in the feedback section but it helps make my point that it wasn't obvious to do so. Feel free to move it if that's possible for moderators.

At the risk of sounding harsh that is not what the forum is for. You have the Unlock information hub for providing information, the forum is entirely based on our individual experiences of the justice system and beyond. I think it would be incorrect to suggest the information contained within is entirely accurate but it does provide an insight into the experience of others and I have found it invaluable since my arrest, conviction and beyond.

OK but the information hub is incomplete and inaccurate too so how can we help unlock improve it?

Well, you could start by telling them what is inaccurate and what corrections they should make.

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If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)

Another consideration regarding the information on the forum. Many of the regulars on here are convicted of sexual offences (unsurprising, as even a minor one-off community sentence for a sexual offence puts a lot more limitations on your daily life, until the day you die, than a long jail stretch for multiple counts of violence, theft, etc.

So due to the stigma of the sexual offences committed and the fact that people are often asking about entry to certain countries, getting out of a SOPO, ways around doing things, etc., a key priority is not to be identified by any law enforcement who may be browsing the forum. So with this guardedness, there may unfortunately be a few inaccuracies and inconsistencies, some of which are deliberate so as not to reveal your identity. This is understandable, IMO.

Yes very true and therefore a good reason for there to be a compiled, aggregated FAQ rather than the information being given in forums.

As others have already said, this forum is about people's experiences as reported by them, so it may not be the whole truth. If there is anything like an FAQ, it is Unlock's Information Hub. If anyone spots any inaccuracies in that, they can always tell Unlock. Regarding the accuracy of posts on this forum, maybe the best advice is "Don't automatically believe everything you read on the internet".

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If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)

And the information hub is woefully incomplete, again, I made that point I think right at the start

Yes, and I made the point that if you spot inaccuracies, you can tell them so they can sort it out.

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If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)

I agree with AB2014 - if anyone has concerns about the accuracy on the Information Hub raise it with Unlock (they are very responsive) so they can research / update / correct as appropriate.

More importantly - as has been pointed out numerous times in threads on this forum - there is the letter of the law and there is the practical application of the law.  They aren't always the same and they aren't always consistent.

That is why this forum is so useful - it allows people to share their real life experiences of the criminal justice system.  As the reader, you have to decide yourself how much weight to put on comments and ask yourself what individual circumstances might apply to the person posting that impacted their experience. We all have different individual circumstances, just like each police force is different and each policeman/woman is different (throw in inconsistent legal advice as well into the mix....)