Does my son have a Criminal Record?

[Meggy2008]

My young minor son was charged with a serious sexual assault, one that he strenuously denied throughout. Both children were minors. There was no physical evidence it was one word against another. The CPS decided to prosecute. Needless to say it was the worst time of our lives. It was due to be heard before the crown court and we attended twice only to be informed hours before that the Plaintiff was ill and so it was rescheduled.

18 long months from being charged we got our 3rd court date. We arrived at court & were met by our Barrister who informed us that there had been a development. Apparently the Police decided to re-interview the plaintiff after they again said they were too "ill" to attend. During this interview they admitted that the reason they didn't want to go to court was that they had lied and made the allegations against my Son up! This new taped evidence was shown to the judge and the case was dismissed.

My Son has suffered badly by this he is withdrawn and introverted; he does not socially interact with his friends, as he is scared that he will be accused again.

Recently he has been asking me why the other child has not been prosecuted for telling lies. A question I have no answer for. He is also worried that he has a criminal record and that when he comes to apply for university place or employment this will be recorded somewhere. Can we request that his fingerprints/DNA and arrest records be deleted/destroyed as this may put his mind at rest a little? Thanks

[loonytunes]

No court conviction, no criminal record. To be on the safe side, apply for a copy of the Criminal Records Bureau details to see what, if anything, is recorded.

[y-cymro]

He won't have a criminal record - but I think that it is now common practice for police to hang on to DNA / fingerprints of everyone arrested even if they do not get conviceted.

It's worth you writing to your local chief constable requesting that these be destroyed, and you should get a response from them explaining what the policy is in your area.

Sounds such a horrible situation to have found yourselves in, but hopefully everything will work out