| Andrew Alexander (34), from Lochee, who has a six-year-old son, now faces not being able to get the job he’s trained for and having to endure an appeals process to clear his name.
“I’ve never been charged in my life but I’ve been branded a criminal,” he said.
“The only time I’ve been in court is for jury service. My name’s been dragged through the mud.”
Mr Alexander wants to become a security guard and applied for a licence from the Security Industry Authority (SIA).
He went through training and exams before applying for his SIA badge, which costs £245.
But a suitability check carried out by Disclosure Scotland said Mr Alexander had seven previous convictions dating back to 2005 for motoring offences, misuse of drugs and criminal damage.
According to the disclosure statement, Mr Alexander was disqualified from driving in 2005, was sentenced to 12 months and six months in jail for drug possession in 2007 and just last month was fined £160 and ordered to pay £540 compensation after appearing at Dundee Sheriff Court on criminal damage and vandalism charges.
But Mr Alexander, who has been looking for a job since being made redundant by Dundee Cold Store in November, claims he’s never held a full driving licence or received a criminal conviction.
“The disclosure check came back and said I had seven convictions — I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“I’ve got documents to prove I was not incarcerated. The latest one was just a few weeks ago for criminal damage and vandalism which added up to a £160 fine and £540 compensation order — all of which is sheer fantasy.
“I applied for a job and I got a phone call on Monday offering me the job, but I had to turn round and say that due to Disclosure Scotland making a mess of my disclosure form I’ve not yet got my SIA badge.”
Mr Alexander said he phoned Disclosure Scotland to tell them they had got the wrong information but says he was told to put his concerns in writing through their appeal process.
He added, “Disclosure Scotland say on their form that they are not responsible for any inaccuracies in the information.
“If that’s the case, then what’s the point of them doing that job if they’re not responsible for the information? What’s annoyed me is these are lies and it’s defamation of character.
“It’s been sent onto the SIA so I’ve now had to phone them and ask them to hold my application — but if they don’t do that they could throw out my application and any chance of me getting a job in security will be done.”
A spokesman for Disclosure Scotland said he could not comment on individual cases.
In the rare instances where someone’s personal details are a close match to someone with a criminal record it may be necessary to take fingerprints to resolve the confusion, he added. |
