A spent conviction order may be made for stealing as a servant where the offender is young, has previous good character, is unlikely to reoffend, the property stolen was of little value, and the conviction would prejudice future career prospects. The power under s 45(1) is to be sparingly exercised but the offender need only satisfy one of the two criteria in s 45(1)(b) — either that the offence is trivial or that the offender has previous good character.
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