Allegations are enough to ruin your life

I blogged previously about the massive rise in CRB checks that were a consequence of CRB checks not being properly done on Ian Huntley. I said at the time:

And of course, it gets worse, because this will not be a check of hard facts, oh, no! Even unsubstantiated allegations against the checkee will be considered. So, it's going to be a lot more rigorous, a lot slower, a lot more expensive and, crucially, there's going to be a lot more opportunity for rumours and mud-slinging to occur.

And lo! It came to pass:

... deputy head, John Pinnington, who was fired from his job when an enhanced criminal record background (CRB) check turned up allegations of abuse made against him. He took his case to judicial review, arguing that the allegations were seriously flawed, were unsubstantiated, and that the police should only include them in a CRB check where there were some grounds to believe they might be true.

This view was rejected, as Lord Justice Richards ruled that there was nothing unlawful about the actions of the Police force in passing on allegations. And future employers "should be aware" of the accusations, however weak and unreliable they are.

Fantastic, eh? As I said before:

And because the government is, as usual, afraid to say anything concrete, we have the situation where people will play it safe and the slightest blemish against anyone's name will be sufficient to have them banned from partaking and will also become a millstone round their necks for ever more.

So now, merely ever having had an accusation made against you will follow you round for the rest of your life, possibly killing your career plans and destroying any plans you've made for your future.

Three cheers for Lord Justice Richards and his infinite wisdom!

Cunt.