Vicar stunned by CRB-check hitch

RETIRED vicar David Booth with his passport and a letter he sent to the CRB

A RETIRED Oldham vicar has been left fuming after the Criminal Records Bureau queried his latest check.

The Rev David Booth (66) retired last November after 14 years as vicar of St Paul’s Church, Royton, and 16 years at St Wilfred’s Church in Leeds.

Now living in Shaw, the 66-year-old attends St Joseph’s Church, Shaw, and wanted to carry out voluntary work in the parish so applied for a CRB check.

However, despite a previous clear CRB check in 2004, he now needs to supply fingerprints and extra photos following a query with his latest application.

Mr Booth said: “I’ve been a vicar for almost 40 years and have lived a blameless life. But being asked for this extra information at 66 makes me feel guilty and uneasy.

“CRB staff told me I had to send extra photos and get fingerprinted because there was someone with similar particulars to myself. I wrote back to them this month to ask what came up this time that didn’t four years ago but I’ve had nothing back.”

Mr Booth said he has sent the extra photos and will have his fingerprints taken at a local police station to allow him to volunteer in the parish but he objects to doing that.

He said: “I’m not an activist, I only want to help the community.

“Why do I have to give my fingerprints when I have a passport that gets me everywhere?

“I don’t object to keeping the public safe, but it is that way this has all been done.”

Earlier this month, the Chronicle featured a similar case where Chadderton voluntary worker Alan Wilde (67) was stunned to find his latest CRB check listed two charges of financial irregularities dated from 1991 belonging to another man.

At the time, a spokeswoman for the CRB said the reason for the checks was that the both men’s names and birth dates were very similar, and it was down to the applicants to dispute information disclosed about them.

A spokesman for the Criminal Records Bureau said: “As part of the CRB checking process, there is a requirement for the police to take fingerprints from a small number of applicants whose identity details are very similar to those held for a record on the Police National Computer (PNC).

“The CRB appreciates that this process can cause some inconvenience for the applicant and may increase the time for a CRB check to be completed, however, it is the only way that we are able to associate or dissociate the applicant from a criminal record held on PNC.

“The CRB’s overall accuracy rate remains extremely high with 99.996 per cent of checks issued accurately.”