The tragedy of the toddler with brain injuries, the ex-footballer who inflicted them, and a ‘passed’ DBS check – not that it exists

There’s many lessons to learn from ex-footballer Kiernan Hughes-Mason being found guilty of child cruelty for inflicting life-changing injuries on a two-year-old girl.

It’s not a case I really want to go into detail about because of how extremely upsetting it is.

But one of the learnings relates to the hiring process and DBS checks, writes Reed Screening director Keith Rosser, chair of the Criminal Records Trade Body and chair of the National Hiring Committee, a joint board made of groups including the Better Hiring Institute and the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS).

Have you ‘passed’ a DBS check? No, nobody else either, ever

After Hughes-Mason was convicted, his employer said through a representative that as a new hire, the 32-year-old had, “successfully passed DBS checks.”

But is it really as simple as a ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ with a DBS check?

And how do employers and recruitment agencies assure themselves that the person that they are hiring -- potentially a contractor or other temporary professional -- is safe, and suitable, for the job?

To begin to answer these questions, we need to remember that the UK’s Criminal Records Bureau started in 2002 to help employers make safer recruitment decisions. The bureau became the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) in 2012, and today operates as an arm's length body of the UK Home Office. It provides criminal record checks to employers in England and Wales. (N.B. In Scotland, this is done by Disclosure Scotland.) 

What is a DBS check?

A DBS check is an analysis that provides information on a person’s criminal history.

And here’s the crucial bit -- there is no such thing as a ‘pass’ or ‘fail.’

In fact, a DBS check is not passed or failed; it simply provides information for employers to use as part of the hiring decision.

Information on a DBS check does not automatically mean a person is or is not suitable for a job. 

What information is on a DBS check, and what levels of DBS checks are there?

The level of information is dependent on the job. There are four levels of DBS check:

1. Basic,
2. Standard,
3. Enhanced; and
4. Enhanced with a check of relevant ‘barred’ lists.

Every role qualifies for a basic check, and it's generally up to the employer to decide whether to use basic checks as part of their hiring process. That said, in some industries it may be a regulatory requirement. This will disclose unspent criminal conviction information only.

DBS: What does a standard check disclose?

Some roles with added responsibility qualify for a standard check.

The standard check will disclose all unspent convictions and also spent convictions that don’t meet the DBS’s filtering rules (N.B. ‘filtering’ is a system that removes criminal records after a certain period of time, unless it is a serious ‘specified’ offence which means it will always be disclosed).

These roles may include those in law enforcement, the legal profession and some roles in financial services (among others).

Enhanced DBS check: explainer

Roles that involve working in environments where children or vulnerable adults will be present, qualify for an enhanced check.

An enhanced check will include everything that is present on the standard check (above), plus any non-conviction information that the relevant police forces consider relevant to the role that is to be carried out.

Roles that involve direct contact with children and direct care for vulnerable adults qualify for an enhanced check and an additional check of the Children’s and Adults’ barred list, or both, depending on the groups that the person will have contact with.

So in the Hughes-Mason case, the DBS check was clear then?

The exact detail has not been released, or if it has, it’s not been made public.

My expectation is that the DBS check was clear -- i.e. it contained no information.

Remember, a DBS check is a snapshot of a person’s criminal background at a given point in time.

The ‘clear DBS checks’ I envisage relate to Hughes-Mason being recruited by football team Saffron Waldron in July 2022. The crime which he committed, which put a two-year-old girl in a comma and means she now requires 24-hour care, is thought to have occurred between October 2019 and January 2020 -- but sentencing was not until 2024.

In 2022 then, when Hughes-Mason was recruited to play for Saffron Waldron Town FC, he very likely had a clear criminal record. Certainly, that appears to be the meaning which the representative intended to convey when the representative said Hughes-Mason “successfully passed DBS checks.”

When is non-conviction information released?

The representative reportedly went onto say that Essex Police “have a lot to answer for.”

Well, perhaps or perhaps not. Crucially, non-conviction information is only released on:

(a) an enhanced DBS, and

(b) only where the police consider it relevant to the job.

So to my mind, the two key questions are:

1. Did the football club carry out an enhanced DBS check in July 2022?

2. Is the alleged information held by police relevant to the job?

Why conduct a DBS check at all then?

Because DBS checking is a critical part of the hiring decision.

However, it is never -- and nor should it ever be -- the sole part of the decision as to whether the individual is hired.

Findings from a DBS check must be reviewed alongside and with references, an interview, and other necessary background checks.

The aim is to form a broader picture of the would-be employee. 

In fact, a DBS check exists to help the employer make a risk-based judgement on the person’s suitability. The presence or absence of criminal information on a DBS check does not automatically mean that a person is or is not suitable for a particular role.

So a DBS check is not a silver bullet, and it should only ever be used alongside other vetting checks to build a comprehensive picture of a person’s suitability to undertake the role for which they are applying.

DBS check? It’s just a snapshot

Furthermore, a DBS check is also merely a snapshot in time.

In the case of Hughes-Mason, therefore, a DBS check now would be very different to a DBS check in July 2022.

Therefore, once a person is employed, regular re-checking is highly recommended, to give reassurance of a person’s continuing suitability to carry out the role that they are working in.

In many settings, such re-checking is essential. 

Thankfully, DBS checking is not difficult. We have worked with the DBS over the last few years to help their programmes of reform, making it more digital, streamlined, and ultimately faster. DBS checks are carried out by registered organisations and registered bodies.

Final thought

I won’t suggest anything positive can come out of a case as upsetting and destructive as this one, not to mention life-changing for the ex-partner’s daughter of Hughes-Mason (he will be sentenced for his crime against the then-two-year-old on Tuesday). But the case has shone a light on the hiring process. That his most recent employer believed a DBS check could be “passed” was just another of the many wrongs in this truly horrific case, albeit it’s one that can be put right with greater understanding.