I would just like to comment on the email subheaded ‘Unfair Cop’. It is a common misconception that a police caution means being let off. Nothing could be further from the truth. A police caution forms part of an offender's criminal record (but is not, in itself, a criminal conviction). So if, previously, one did not have a criminal record, accepting a police caution immediately gives one a criminal record. For more information, see www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/publications/home-office-circulars/circulars-2008/016-2008/index.html , especially paragraph 34.