Single Mother Wrongly Cautioned for Child Neglect Cleared to Train as Teacher
The Situation:
What Our Client Was Facing
Our client, a single mother, had recently separated from her partner following serious domestic abuse. She was living alone, financially strained, and in a highly vulnerable position.
One evening, she was locked out of her home while her children, both under the age of 10, remained inside. In an attempt to reach them, she tried to force entry. A neighbour contacted the police. She briefly left to seek help, but during her absence, the police arrived. When she returned, she was arrested for child neglect.
During the incident, she became involved in an altercation with the officers and was further accused of assaulting a police officer. She later accepted a police caution for child neglect, a specified offence under DBS rules.
Specified offences are always disclosed on both standard and enhanced DBS certificates, regardless of the passage of time. At the time, our client was retraining to become a teacher. The disclosure of this caution posed a permanent barrier to entering a regulated profession.
HAS A POLICE CAUTION MADE YOU INELIGIBLE FOR PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION?
We approached this case with careful preparation, focusing on both the legal flaws and the wider circumstances. Here’s what we did:
Case File Review: Obtained the full case file and went through it in detail. It became clear that our client hadn’t made a clear or informed admission during her police interview.
Contextual Evidence: Set out the wider picture, her vulnerability, the fact she had recently escaped domestic abuse, and the emotional state she was in at the time.
Written Representations: Prepared detailed representations explaining why the caution was unfair. We pointed to the lack of a proper admission and the serious consequences this record would have on her future.
Proportionality Argument: Highlighted how a lifelong disclosure would block her from entering the teaching profession, despite no ongoing risk or pattern of behaviour.
With a clear and measured case, we argued that the caution should never have remained on her record.
The Outcome:
How Legisia Protected & Reinstated The Life
Within several months, the police agreed to delete the caution from the Police National Computer. Her record now shows “No Trace.”
Because child neglect is treated as a specified offence under DBS rules, it would have stayed on both standard and enhanced certificates for life. That made it especially important to challenge the caution, given the lack of a clear admission and the wider context.
The deletion cleared the path for her to continue training as a teacher and gave her the chance to rebuild her life with stability and dignity for her children.
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Why This Case Mattered — and What Others Can Learn
This case shows how a caution for a specified offence can block access to regulated professions, even without a conviction or clear admission. Despite her vulnerability, our client was left with a record that threatened her future.
It reinforces the need to scrutinise how cautions are issued and whether they reflect the facts. Where they don’t, they can and should be challenged.
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