‘I found out my colleague was a sex offender so had to quit my dream job'

When Sarah Humphries began working for a training company which helped empower women, she felt like her life was finally coming together.

She took a job with the Growth Company in 2021, which is commissioned by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and offers training, education, and support to people across the city.

The 34-year-old from Chorlton loved her job, but several months in it was shattered after she learned that a co-worker had previously been convicted of sexual offences.

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The man, who the M.E.N is not naming, worked on a programme run by the Growth Company, which involved him working directly with women in the city.

He had previously appeared in court having carried out a string of sexual offences against underage girls between the 1990s and early 2000s, including indecent assault and indecent exposure.

The man never received a custodial sentence and his conviction has since been spent. According to the government, this means it would not show on a basic criminal record and would only show up on a more detailed DBS check.

A spokesperson for the company said they take the safety and wellbeing of their clients and colleagues “seriously” and said the individual concerned no longer worked for the organisation.

The firm openly advertises that they operate a ‘Ban the Box’ policy, which means they don’t ask prospective employees to disclose previous convictions at the application stage. They added that DBS checks to understand previous criminal history are not standard practice for them.

Speaking to the M.E.N, Sarah said she was “horrified” when she discovered her co-worker's previous convictions, and subsequently decided to leave the