The idea
I would like the Police Acts and The Mental Health Acts reviewed to right an injustice when applying for work. Comments should not be used to give people thought to be unwell a 'de facto' criminal record.
Currently when applying for jobs I have to warn prospective employers that there may be negative comments in the box provided for the Chief Constable's use which I have been advised they are using for comments in the wake of the Huntley case.
I do not have a criminal record but have suffered lack of prospects, loss of job opportunity, and compromised distressing circumstances as a result of these comments appearing on a CRB check whilst applying for a job for which I was qualified.
I include below extracts from letters to my consultant regarding this situation occurring after events in 2004.
"[Name], who is sympathetic to my cause, recommends that I apply for the [Company] post and try and pre-inform them of the likelihood of something appearing on my CRC Police check. I intend to apply, albeit with some trepidation that the outcome will not necessarily be happy for myself whether or not I get the job.
I would like to note that whilst possibly obsoleted by subsequent legislation, copies of Magna Carta contain a clause 20:
“For a trivial offence, a free man shall be fined only in proportion to the degree of his offence, and for a serious offence correspondingly, but not so heavily as to deprive him of his livelihood.”
Source: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/magnacarta.html
This I believe adds moral weight at least to our point.
In the meantime, I would ask you to raise this issue of judicial vengeance with your management committee and Police liaison people at the earliest opportunity and pursue it with a view to quiet relief from this cruel injustice continued unreasonably nearly six years after events in 2004…"
Why is it important?
This is important because the liberty of a right to pursue one's livelihood even if 'punished' was recognized by the drafters of Magna Carta and enshrined in that document.
If one does not have a criminal record, why should one suffer the injustice of effectively having one because the Police failed to pick up the Soham murderer? The comments box should not be used to target patients as though they were potential criminals.