I am a former drug addict. I'm 27 years old and have never been in employment because of my drug/alcohol usage. I have recently gotten off all these substances and I've totally turned my life around. I'm now volunteering in a local charity shop and homeless shelter. I'm planning to become a mental health worker or drugs counsellor

Here is my question:

To become a mental health worker./drugs counselor, I will need to undergo an Enhanced DBS check.

Now here are the interactions I had with police:

1. My drug addict mother who had mental health problems would love to cause problems for me, as well as my brother. Once in 2006 she rang up the police after an argument we had and said that I was going to kill myself. Upon arriving she led them to my room where she had placed knives and said "look at what hes got!" She then tried her best to have me carted away with them, to no avail.

2. In 2007 i was given a reprimand for criminal damage (minor criminal damage, dealth with at the police station and not taken to court).

3. in 2007 i was jumped by a group of kids. I made a complaint and when the police arrived, they tried to accuse me of starting it all.. They also said I was "clenching my fists during questioning, I was the victim here...

4. in 2008 my mother was trying to cause trouble again, she would give us drugs and then when we didn't have them she would try to annoy me and my brother. She rang a police officer to come round and speak to us, upon coming round he was shouting at her as he knew what she was like..

5. in 2008 she was once again trying to make trouble for me. After a domestic argument the police were called by her and she said that I had petrol bombs in the back garden, I had petrol in containers for my motorbike.. The police come to the back garden and questioned me about it briefly but I said no. i even asked them to look in the shed to verify it but they didn't seem interested.

6 in 2009 my mother died from a heroin overdose. i had to move in with my somewhat autisitic brother who also loved to cause trouble. There was a domestic argument that led to a fight and the police were called in 2009. No one was arrested but they took his side and nearly arrested me..

7. Throughout 2015-2017 my brother was bullying my elderly father. I rang up 101 and asked the police to do something about it or I would have to "commission very serious offenses" against him, or something.. I was on drugs at the time and didn't mean what I was saying.. They didn't do anything anyway. I just wanted them to show up and tell him off.

8  when i used to drink and take drugs i used to do stupid things. One time i rang the police as a couple people outside were fighting.. I said to the police "hurry up or i'll smash their brains in with a hammer" i don't know why i said this.// but it was a on a mobile probably registered to me.. I didn't mean it and was under enormous amount of pressure at the time... nothing ever came of it and i never heard anything after it. this was in 2017

9. one time i rang 101 to ask them .. what was the lawful use of force i could use to stop someone stealing my car outside. I said in a joke "can i use handcuffs" to the officer on the phone.. surely this will be recorded? I was drunk at the time and on drugs etc..

10. in 2017 i had a domestic fight with my brother, he alledges i tried to "blind him" or something.. the police arrived and he didn't want to press charges.. He assaulted me first though. no one was arrested or anything..


Will any or all of these come up on an Enhanced DBS disclosure for mental health worker/ drugs counselor? I've turned my life around now and no longer associate with my brother. no other job will give me any leeway about never having worked or anything..

The only formal thing there is the reprimand, which is now called a youth caution. That particular offence will not be shown after all this time. As for the rest, it depends on whether the police have any of this in their local files. You can find out by making a subject access request under Freedom of Information to your local police force. They should tell you how to do that on their website. On an enhanced DBS check, they can only disclose information that is in that file, so if there's nothing there, there's nothing they can disclose. If there is information there, you can ask them to delete it. Unlock has a web page about this on their website here.

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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)

Hi,


I've just got my subject access request back from the local Merseyside Police force. Luckily there are no 999 calls and 101 calls that I was concerned about. I guess they didn't record them or something.. That's a weight off my mind.
What there is is the following:

I was arrested for 'battery' against my mother in 2008. This was NFA'd at the police station - the arresting officer in question hated her and knew what she was like - AKA a lying drug addict.

My brother and I had a domestic fight in May 2009- the police arrived but didn't arrest anyone, no one said anything to them or gave statements, no injuries, no damage, essentially it was two brothers fighting - my mother had died 4 week earlier.

my brother and i had a domestic fight in march 2013- the police arrived but didn't arrest anyone, no no said anything to them or gave statements,  no injuries , no damage, etc.. it says in report "two brothers fighting"..

again, my brother and i had a domestic fight in april 2017. the police arrived but didn't arrest anyone, no one said anything to them or gave statements, no injuries, no damage, etc.. they gave words of advice and left. - they said on report that I "punch out at my brother" and when cops arrived all on scene were calm and stuff. It was an argument that got out of hand it says on report.

I have since moved away and have turned my life around. I no longer see my brother and am trying to build my life up again. Do you think any of these would be disclosed on an Enhanced DBS disclosure under "additional police information" it was essentially two brothers fighting,.. and the one from 2008 was more than 12 years ago and that was NFA'd...

Not all that is on the PNC gets on the eDBS. It has to be information relevant to the role unless it's a barred profession. However the only way to know for definite is to apply for one.

I know one former drug addict who is now a well respected community advisor, so lived experience is important in those sort of roles. Unless it's a barred occupation, the weight attached will depend on who is commissioning the role.

What do you mean "unless it's a barred occupation"? What do you mean by that?

I guess Was is talking about the adult and child bared lists and that if you are on either of these lists you can’t apply for jobs that require an enhanced DBS plus baring check as it is a criminal offence to do so.

On another topic, check this link as it gives you information on disclosure of police information on enhanced DBS checks and what you can do if something is disclosed that you don’t think should be

https://hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledgebase/local-police-information-2/

Hope it helps

It's important to distinguish between the PNC, which would just have arrest records and anything following on from that. Local files are more about police intel. You could even ask them to delete much of this stuff, as it was so long ago. Even then, for it to be disclosed, the police would have to follow their statutory guidelines, and I'm thinking this stuff might not pass the test, which would be another good reason for them to delete it. Anyway, have a look through Unlock's information here, and see if you can get the police to delete it.

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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)