Hello, I am 69 in 2 months, living in Central Europe. In 1962, yes 1962, I stole a bicycle. That was the start of a few years of stupidity and stealing-related offences which ended with Borstal and one final count of Theft by Finding (a wallet) in 1972.
Since then, I've had a variety of jobs and retired recently from a position as a Senior University Lecturer in Linguistics. So I've been out of trouble for too many years to count, have been an upright and sober citizen, contributing to the education of others.
I was taken on as a consultant for a UK based educational business and for 3 years I worked with them, training teachers etc for about 5 weeks a year. Then they required an enhanced DBS and here we are! All those offences show up despite the fact that I have no barring for any kind of job. Now I really don't know what to do and that's kind of why I'm here. I feel it's grossly unfair that I should be exposed after all these years - I paid a price at the time, why should I pay again now since I pose no risk nor danger to anyone?
I'm sure I'm not alone with this dilemma so I'm hoping that there will be others in the same boat (though I wouldn't wish it on anyone, of course!) with whom we can share experiences and possible solutions, should they exist.
Thanks for reading.