Thousands of Britons Face Lockdown Violations Appearing on Criminal Background Checks for Next Decade

Thousands of Britons face the prospect of having coronavirus lockdown violations remaining on criminal background checks for the next decade.

While the British government’s Criminal Records Office classifies fixed penalty notices — such as those issued for lockdown violations — as “non-recordable”, people who failed or refused to pay their fines or attend court could have the violations remain on their criminal record for up to eleven years.

According to a Freedom of Information Request from the Transform Justice charity on behalf of the #FairChecks campaign, there were over 3,000 “recordable” instances of lockdown violations between March and December of 2020, alone.

The recordable lockdown breaches will reportedly be visible on Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) background checks, used by some employers in Britain and mandatory for professionals such as doctors and teachers, raising concerns that some may lose out on job opportunities for violating the same lockdown rules Boris Johnson’s government is accused of breaking.

The director of Transform Justice, Penelope Gibbs told the Evening Standard: “Criminal records haunt people long after they have moved on from youthful brushes with the law. – READ MORE