Police helper is branded a crook

I’M not a criminal . . . Alan Wilde with the CRB check that stated he had convictions

A MAN who has spent his life working with police to bring lawbreakers to justice was horrified to find he had been wrongly branded a criminal.

The blunder came to light when a letter from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) arrived at the home of Chadderton volunteer and community stalwart Alan Wilde.

And now the 67-year-old, of Broadway, has hit out at the “sheer incompetence” of the organisation.

Mr Wilde sent off for a new CRB check in May along with fellow members of the Lions Club International to allow them to carry out public charity collections.

The keen volunteer, who has worked with the Youth Offending Team and regularly helps the Chadderton neighbourhood policing team, received a clear CRB check in 2004.

But he was stunned to find his latest check listed two charges of financial irregularities dated from 1991.

On closer examination, the documentation showed the charges relate to a man from Manchester with the same surname but spelt differently, and with a different birth date.

Mr Wilde said: “This is sheer incompetence from the CRB people, they are treating me as a criminal.

“I want to expose the CRB for what they are, they are just giving information out willy-nilly and it shouldn’t happen.

“Someone else could get the information and be frightened to do anything about it.”

Mr Wilde, a former Oldham Chronicle employee, said he rang the CRB office immediately to notify them of his previous check, but was told staff would not be able to compare the two.

He has since filled out another form, had his fingerprints taken at a police station and sent off four passport photos as part of his dispute against the check.

He said: “I don’t have a criminal record. I used to be treasurer for Bury Lions for 20 years and I used to run the Christmas club at the Chronicle for 20 years.

“For an organisation which is an executive office of the Home Office, an apology should be forthcoming.”

The CRB confirmed the reason for the checks was that the two men’s names and birth dates were very similar.

A spokeswoman said: “The CRB will always reveal information about an applicant if our matching processes indicate that, on balance, the information we find relates closely to the person being checked.

“The CRB allows applicants to dispute the information disclosed about them.”