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Accuracy of England and Wales convictions on police computer questioned after 'slip'
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/05/accuracy-of-england-and-wales-convictions-on-police-computer-questioned-after-slipAccuracy of England and Wales convictions on police computer questioned after 'slip'
Courts service apologises after two offences wrongly recorded against defendant
Old Bailey
Owen Bowcott Legal affairs correspondent
@owenbowcott
Mon 5 Oct 2020 07.34 EDT
The accuracy of convictions stored on the Police National Computer (PNC) has been questioned after the courts service apologised when two offences were wrongly recorded against a defendant.
The error led to a woman who had not at that stage been tried gaining a criminal record for offences relating to a violent crime she denied, and took three months for her lawyers to correct. It was dismissed by HM Courts and Tribunal Service as a “slip”.
The case, which recently came to trial, highlights the fact that mistakes can occur in the system that is supposed to be the ultimate authority on criminal records in England and Wales.
A lawyer involved in the case reported hearing of other mistakes on the same day. Checks are supposed to be in place to ensure criminal convictions are correctly recorded.
[...]