CRIMINAL DEFENCE • PROFESSIONAL CONSEQUENCES • REGULATORY RISK

Professionals Under Criminal Investigation

A police investigation can create two problems at once: the criminal allegation itself and the effect it may have on your career, regulator, DBS position or reputation. Those issues do not all arise automatically and they should not distort the criminal defence strategy. We advise professionals on interview, evidence and pre-charge work while identifying any separate reporting or disclosure question that needs specialist attention.

Request a pre-charge review Police interview not happened yet?

IS THIS THE RIGHT STAGE?

Where are you in the investigation?

The opportunity usually exists after the allegation and interview are understood but before a final charging decision. The question is not whether a letter can be sent; it is whether there is defence material, a missing enquiry, a legal issue or a public-interest point capable of improving the information on which the police or CPS will decide.

Interview completedYou have given an account and the investigation remains open.

On pre-charge bailYou have a bail return or review date and a charging decision may be approaching.

Released under investigationThere is no fixed bail date, but the police are still gathering or reviewing evidence.

File with the CPSThe case may already be with a reviewing prosecutor, but no final charge has been authorised.

Send us the key facts firstAllegation • police force • interview date • bail/RUI status • next date • core defence material

Request a pre-charge review

The criminal case comes first — professional consequences run in parallel

The immediate defence questions are the allegation, interview strategy, evidence, reasonable lines of enquiry, bail or RUI status and the charging decision. Professional consequences may be serious, but they should be analysed separately. A regulator, employer or DBS process applies different legal tests from the criminal investigation and may arise at a different stage.

We therefore avoid two common mistakes: assuming that every investigation must immediately be disclosed to everybody, or assuming that nothing needs to be considered until charge. The correct position depends on the profession, the regulator’s current rules, the employment contract, the type of allegation and the event that has actually occurred.

Do you have to tell an employer or regulator?

There is no universal reporting rule for all professionals. The obligation must be checked against the relevant regulator and contractual framework. For example, the SRA Code expressly requires solicitors to notify the SRA promptly if they are subject to a criminal charge, conviction or caution, subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974; wider reporting duties can arise separately. An investigation without charge therefore should not simply be treated as if every profession has the same rule.

Timing matters.

Representations should usually be made when the defence understands enough of the allegation to make targeted submissions and while the decision-maker can still act on them. Sending an unfocused letter too early can be ineffective; waiting until after charge can remove the opportunity altogether.

Criminal defence strategy with professional risk in view

We identify the precise allegation, investigation status and decision-maker, then review the interview account, messages, documents, chronology and witness material. Where professional consequences may follow, we also identify the separate decision points—such as a charge, regulatory notification, employer process or enhanced DBS issue—so that the criminal case is protected without making unnecessary or premature admissions elsewhere.

The final representations are structured around the issues that can legitimately influence the charging decision. That may include evidential sufficiency, reliability, admissibility, inconsistencies, missing lines of enquiry, reasonable explanations, proportionality, public interest and suitable alternatives to prosecution.

What should the pre-charge strategy seek?

The criminal objective depends on the evidence: in an appropriate case it may be no further action, an alternative disposal, a narrower allegation or simply completion of a missing line of enquiry before charge. Professional or reputational consequences do not justify overstating the criminal evidence, but they make accuracy, timing and a disciplined documentary record especially important.

What should you send us for the first review?

ChronologyA clear sequence of events, including key communications and dates.

DocumentsMessages, emails, records, photographs, receipts or other relevant material.

Witness materialPotential witnesses who can address disputed or contextual facts.

Personal impactEmployment, professional, health or family consequences where legally relevant.

Professionals under criminal investigation FAQs

Do I have to tell my employer or professional regulator that I am under investigation?

Not automatically in every profession. The answer depends on the regulator's current rules, your employment contract, the nature of the allegation and the stage reached. Some regimes require notification only on specified events such as charge, conviction or caution; others can impose wider duties. The precise rule should be checked before any disclosure is made.

What is the position for solicitors regulated by the SRA?

The SRA Code of Conduct requires a solicitor to notify the SRA promptly if they are subject to a criminal charge, conviction or caution, subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Separate reporting obligations can arise where facts or matters are capable of amounting to a serious regulatory breach. An investigation without charge should therefore be analysed against the actual Code rather than treated as if it were automatically the same as a charge.

Can an allegation that does not lead to conviction appear on an enhanced DBS certificate?

Potentially. An enhanced DBS certificate can include relevant non-conviction information held by police where the statutory disclosure test is met. It is not the case that every allegation or investigation is automatically disclosed; relevance and whether the information ought to be included are part of the statutory test.

Should career consequences be included in pre-charge representations?

They may be relevant in an appropriate case, particularly to proportionality or public-interest considerations, but they should not replace analysis of the evidence. Strong pre-charge work addresses the actual allegation, legal ingredients, missing enquiries and objective defence material first.

Can an employer or regulator act before the criminal case is finished?

Potentially, depending on the applicable employment and regulatory framework. Parallel processes can proceed on different tests and evidence. The defence strategy should therefore avoid unnecessary admissions, preserve consistency and identify what information can lawfully and strategically be shared in each process.

LEGAL GUIDEUpdated 30 September 2026

Prepared by Theodorous. Principal Solicitor: Paris Theodorou.

Official sourcesSRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors DBS filtering guide — GOV.UK Enhanced DBS statutory disclosure guidance — GOV.UK Code for Crown Prosecutors — CPS

WHAT YOU ARE ACTUALLY PAYING FOR

What do you receive if you instruct us?

The value is in identifying the points capable of affecting the decision, obtaining or preserving the right material, and presenting the defence case in a form the investigator or prosecutor can properly assess.

Case and charging analysisWe identify the alleged offence, the issues the prosecution would need to prove, the present investigation stage and the realistic decisions available before charge.

Defence evidence planWe identify messages, CCTV, records, witnesses, expert material or other evidence that may undermine the allegation, support the defence account or expose a missing line of enquiry.

Written representationsWhere the timing and evidence justify it, we prepare structured submissions addressing evidential sufficiency, legal issues, reasonable enquiries, public interest and any lawful alternative to prosecution.

Follow-up and next-step adviceWe send the representations to the appropriate decision-maker, deal with sensible follow-up where required and advise on the response, further investigation or any charging decision.

When paid pre-charge work may not be justified

Sometimes the correct advice is not to send representations yet. We may advise that better evidence should first be obtained, a particular enquiry should be requested, the interview position should be protected, or a defence point should not be disclosed prematurely. If a letter would add little, be disproportionate to the issue or create unnecessary strategic risk, we will say so. No solicitor can guarantee that a charge will be avoided.

Current legal frameworkOur approach is grounded in the current Code for Crown Prosecutors, the Director’s Guidance on Charging and the disclosure framework. As at September 2026 the CPS is consulting on a draft ninth edition of the Code; that draft is not yet the operative Code and is not relied on as if it were in force.

Code for Crown Prosecutors Director's Guidance on Charging Attorney General's Disclosure Guidelines

Pre-charge strategy

Keep the criminal, employment and regulatory tracks separate

The police or CPS applies the criminal charging framework. An employer may be considering contractual duties, safeguarding or workplace risk. A professional regulator applies its own rules, and an enhanced DBS certificate has a separate statutory disclosure test. The same factual allegation can therefore be relevant to several processes without any one of them proving the outcome of another. Advice should identify which decision is being made, by whom, under which test and on what evidence.

Evidential sufficiency

We analyse whether the evidence said to support the allegation is admissible, reliable and capable of meeting the prosecution test. That may involve inconsistencies, identification evidence, digital chronology, medical evidence, hearsay, CCTV, expert evidence or the absence of material that would ordinarily be expected if the allegation were correct.

Reasonable lines of enquiry

The defence can identify specific enquiries that should be pursued before a charging decision: obtaining footage, downloading a particular device, interviewing a witness, checking bank or travel records, preserving metadata or comparing contemporaneous communications. The request should be proportionate and linked to an issue that genuinely matters.

Legal issues

Representations may address the elements of the offence, self-defence, consent, dishonesty, intent, course of conduct, jurisdiction, abuse of process, limitation or other legal points. Where a legal issue can dispose of or materially narrow the case, it should be put clearly and with supporting authority where appropriate.

Public interest and disposal

Even where the evidential threshold is met, the public-interest stage and alternatives to prosecution can matter. Depending on the offence and circumstances, representations may address age, antecedents, health, vulnerability, restitution, proportionality, professional impact and whether a caution or other out-of-court disposal is legally available.

Documents commonly used in pre-charge work

a detailed signed account or witness statement from the client where tactically appropriate;
messages, emails, call data and social-media records preserved in original form;
CCTV, doorbell footage, photographs and location material;
employment, medical, education or character material where it is genuinely relevant;
documents showing ownership, payment, consent, authority or chronology;
expert or specialist evidence where the issue cannot fairly be resolved without it;
a schedule identifying the exact enquiries or material sought from investigators.

Timing matters: representations are usually more useful before the file is finally determined. If a charging decision appears imminent, tell us the bail or review date and provide the core papers as early as possible.

FEES & SCOPEWe scope the work around the decision that is actually approaching.A defined private instruction can include review of the allegation and interview, analysis of the available evidence, an evidence or enquiry plan, written pre-charge representations and proportionate follow-up. Where the scope can be identified in advance we can quote a fixed fee. Larger evidence sets, witness work, conferences, expert material or continuing liaison may require a wider scope. We confirm the work and fee before starting.

Request a case review How our fees work →

UNDERSTAND THE STAGE

Guides linked to pre-charge strategy

Pre-charge engagement guideThe recognised voluntary process after interview and before charge, including enquiries and disclosure considerations.What happens after a police interview?Bail, RUI, further enquiries, charging decisions and the practical steps to take while the case remains open.Released under investigationWhat RUI means, how the investigation continues and why an open-ended investigation still needs active case management.Pre-charge bailBail conditions, review dates, investigation management and the relationship between bail and the charging timetable.

Before charge

If your career may be affected, do not let the criminal case drift.

Send us the allegation, police force, interview date, bail or RUI status, next known date and the key defence material. We will assess whether pre-charge intervention is strategically justified and what should happen next.

Request a pre-charge case review