Upper Tribunal Administrative Appeals Chamber

[2024] UKUT 129 (AAC)

Fecha: 26-Ene-2024

The decision of the Upper Tribunal is to DISMISS the appeal: the Disclosure and Barring Service (“DBS”) has not, in making its decision of 26 May 2022 to include the Appellant’s name in the Adults’ Ba

The decision of the Upper Tribunal is to DISMISS the appeal: the Disclosure and Barring Service (“DBS”) has not, in making its decision of 26 May 2022 to include the Appellant’s name in the Adults’ Barred List (the “Barring Decision”), made any material mistake on a point of law or in any finding of fact on which the Barring Decision was based.

The Barring Decision is confirmed.

REASONS FOR DECISION

What this appeal is about

The issue in this appeal is very straightforward: it is whether the DBS was “mistaken” or “wrong” in its findings that LW:

had nude images of a 14-year-old child (“Child A”) in his possession,

engaged in oral sex with Child A, and

engaged in sexual intercourse with Child A.

LW does not dispute the DBS’s finding that he bought alcohol and tobacco for Child A. Neither does he dispute that he has a conviction for possession of an extreme pornographic image (although he says he didn’t know it was illegal at the time and it was sent to him unsolicited on a group WhatsApp).

While LW accepts that he was wrong to buy Child A alcohol and tobacco, and regrets the extreme pornographic image conviction, he says those mistakes alone, made when he was an immature and impulsive 19-year-old with ADHD, are insufficient to justify his being barred now.

He asks the Upper Tribunal to rule that the findings set out in paragraph 1 above were mistaken and to direct the DBS to remove his name from the Adults’ Barred List.

The DBS opposes the appeal and asks the Upper Tribunal to dismiss it and confirm the Barring Decision.