MINOR PAST CONVICTIONS SHOULD NOT DESTROY FUTURE LIFE OPPORTUNITIES

EVENING Telegraph reporter Jon Brady and I last week spoke to a homeless lady called Dawn following the news of an increase in homeless applications in Dundee. Dawn was glad to have secured a tenancy and moved into her new home last Friday but she also spoke about the challenges she has faced securing employment due to a recurring question about a conviction she had for stealing food to avoid starvation. It was, therefore, encouraging to hear that the Supreme Court last week ruled in favour of three people who claimed their lives were adversely affected in the pursuit of employment by past minor criminal convictions.

The judges found that the way their criminal records were disclosed infringed their human rights, impeding their ability to find work.

Having spent half of my life providing food to people experiencing poverty, I have sympathy for the late socialist John Maclean, who once said that if you cannot secure food by the usual means you should just take it.

If I had to make a choice between stealing food and my children starving, I know what I would do.

Thankfully, the Supreme Court also believes such extreme acts should not destroy future life opportunities.