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In association with voluntary work with young people, a young man has consulted me about a problem. He is aged 19 and had just gone to university. To get from the uni to his student flat he has a choice of route; up and down a busy main road or a shorter route on a footpath with a shrubby park to one side and a riverbank with seats to the other. He never uses the latter route if he is alone after dark or in stormy weather. A few weeks ago he took that route home just before sunset. Before leaving the busy road he bought himself a tray of chips. Part way along the path he sat on a seat to eat his chips. On putting the wrapping in a nearby litter bin two baseball-capped police officers came out of the shrubbery and said 'Police officers, we want to have a word with you. They asked him what he was doing there and he told them he was on his way home and stopped to eat his chips but the officers refused to believe him saying ' This area is used by homosexual men looking for men and that is what we believe you are doing.' He told them that he was not gay and they replied 'Are you a married man, sir?' He replied 'No, but I am only 19 and there is a picture of my girl-friend.
They searched him and took down his name and student flat address and home address and checked things on their radio. Eventually they said ' OK then, be on your way, we are not taking any further action this time but we will be recording your details on our database'. One of the reasons he does not use that path after dark is because he knows that gay men hover around there, but on this occasion it was still light.
He contacted me because he is worried. He is planning to become a school teacher in a church school but is concerned lest that incident is disclosed via his CRB / DBS as he will never be accepted with a sexually related record however trivial. and his studies will be in vain. He cannot afford a solicitor. Any advice p;ease? I have taken the matter up with the police on his behalf and they say that all they did was ask him some questions and search him and record his details as people had complained about the presence of gay men there. but they would not say if the incident would or could be disclose 'as it is a police matter'.
They searched him and took down his name and student flat address and home address and checked things on their radio. Eventually they said ' OK then, be on your way, we are not taking any further action this time but we will be recording your details on our database'. One of the reasons he does not use that path after dark is because he knows that gay men hover around there, but on this occasion it was still light.
He contacted me because he is worried. He is planning to become a school teacher in a church school but is concerned lest that incident is disclosed via his CRB / DBS as he will never be accepted with a sexually related record however trivial. and his studies will be in vain. He cannot afford a solicitor. Any advice p;ease? I have taken the matter up with the police on his behalf and they say that all they did was ask him some questions and search him and record his details as people had complained about the presence of gay men there. but they would not say if the incident would or could be disclose 'as it is a police matter'.
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