Careers are being “destroyed” by “misleading information” being disclosed in criminal-record checks, teachers have warned.

In one case, a woman was told that she could no longer work with children because her nephew had been convicted of rape; another committed suicide after losing her job for failing to disclose a public disorder fine for “snorting like a pig” at an undercover police officer during her university days, heard the National Education Union ATL section’s annual conference in Liverpool.

Delegates raised concerns that the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), which checks the criminal records of those applying to work in certain jobs, such as with children, was not fit for purpose.

Josie Whiteley, president of AMiE, the ATL’s leadership section, told the conference: “There are cases where the career prospects of individuals are being destroyed by misleading information shared through police intelligence.”

She referred to one example in which a woman, “Jane”, had reported her nephew - who was living with her at the time - to the police for attacking his girlfriend.

“A decade later, the nephew was convicted of rape and Jane, who was a childminder, was prevented from working with children for fear she might invite him back into her home. The nephew was related to her husband, who she had since divorced, and he was in jail, so he couldn’t possibly have visited her.

“She is just one of many innocent people who have been made unemployable in their chosen profession after police include tenuous allegations about them or about their supposed links to criminals in disclosure information.”

Ms Whiteley said she had heard of another case of “a young woman who always wanted to work with children”.

“While she was at university, on a pub night out with friends she decided, perhaps rather foolishly, to snort like at a pig at a man she suspected was an undercover police officer,” she said.

“He was a police officer, and she was told she had committed a public-order offence.

“They told her if she accepted a penalty notice for disorder and a fine, she wouldn’t have to go to court, so she accepted that. After university, she found her dream job working with children in care and was allowed to start work while applying for her DBS check.”

But when her employer saw the check, they said she had acted dishonestly by not disclosing the penalty notice, and she was dismissed.

“She felt her career was in tatters, and two weeks later she took her own life,” Ms Whiteley said.

Delegates passed a resolution that said there had been “instances of members being arrested, released without charge and yet being put in a position where their careers are at risk owing to unfair and/or inappropriate information disclosed on their DBS”.

It called on the union to lobby the government to overhaul the system and to ensure that information about arrests leading to no further action was not eligible information on a DBS check.

A statement from the DBS said: “Each year, we issue around 4 million certificates to help employers make safer recruitment decisions. What is included on our certificates is either set out in legislation or provided to us by the police.

“Any non-conviction information disclosed on a DBS certificate has been subject to a decision by a police force in accordance with a statutory test and with regard to statutory guidance.

“It is also important to note that around 94 per cent of certificates are clear and that a DBS check is one of the key pieces of information that form part of any organisation’s recruitment decision and should be considered alongside other information.”