What is the difference between a caution, a fixed penalty notice and a conviction?
They are three different things with very different consequences — and the most important distinction is whether you have admitted an offence.
Conviction. A finding of guilt by a court, after a trial or a guilty plea. It results in a sentence and a criminal record.
Caution. An out-of-court disposal administered by the police for offences where prosecution is not considered necessary in the public interest.
The critical feature: a caution requires an admission of guilt. You must admit the offence and consent to the caution. That admission is the whole basis of it, and people frequently accept one to end an unpleasant situation without realising what they are agreeing to.
A caution is not a conviction, but it is recorded on the Police National Computer, forms part of your criminal record for disclosure purposes, and can appear on an enhanced DBS check. It can affect employment, particularly in regulated professions, and visa applications for some countries — the United States in particular asks about offences rather than convictions.
Conditional cautions attach requirements, and failing to comply can result in prosecution for the original offence.
Community resolutions are a lighter disposal, involving an admission but with less formal recording.
You are entitled to legal advice before accepting a caution, free at the police station, and it is worth taking.
Fixed penalty notice. A penalty issued for a specified offence, allowing the matter to be discharged by paying a set sum.
The crucial point: for most fixed penalties, paying is not an admission of guilt and does not create a criminal record. This applies to penalty notices for disorder, most littering and environmental notices, and fixed penalties for many motoring offences — though motoring ones do typically carry licence penalty points, which are recorded and affect insurance.
You can decline to pay and elect to be tried, in which case the matter goes to court, with the risk of a larger penalty and a conviction if found guilty.
Parking penalty charge notices are different again — usually civil, not criminal, with no record and an adjudicator appeal route.
Filtering rules determine when older cautions and convictions cease to be disclosed.
General information, not legal advice.