possession of marijuana

[donlste]

My friend has a new job, however, he was cautioned for possession of marijuana at the age of 17 (he is now 26), and they plan to do a police check on him. He hasn't declared this conviction, does anyone know if this would appear on the checks? Or how long a caution remains on record for?

[Buenchico]

A caution isn't a criminal conviction, so (irrespective of the time interval), there would never be any need to declare it in response to a question, on an application form, which asked about 'criminal convictions' or a 'criminal record'.

Because a caution isn't a conviction, there is no provision, under the rehabilitation of Offenders Act, for it to become 'spent' but it seems likely that the Criminal Records Bureau would apply the same criterion to cautions which applies to non-custodial sentences: i.e. a caution is likely to be treated as if it were 'spent' after a period of five years (or for someone like your friend, who was under 18 years old at the time of cautioning, 2.5 years).

This question came up earlier this week and I provided a much more detailed answer, with relevant links, here:
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Law/Criminal/Qu estion324852.html

Chris