The police throw cautions around when they think that they haven’t got a reasonable chance of bringing a successful prosecution.
People, having been arrested and scared witless in the police station agree to accept the caution (because the police play the effect of it down saying that it spent immediately and it’s not a conviction), rather than face the prospect of going to court because the police convince them that they would be prosecuted and be sent to Botany Bay or some other penal colony colony on the moon!
For anyone in the cells, it seems a soft option that stage. The reality is however that it will appear on a criminal record check. That is why people are advised to accept caution and usually they do.
There is no right of appeal against a simple caution as you will read here on page 5 paragraph 12
http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/oocd/adult-simple-caution-guidance-oocd.pdf
You can complain to the Chief Constable and if that fails, you can complain to the IPCC.
If that fails then you are faced with application for Judicial Review of the decision to impose the Caution on grounds of irrationality, illegality or procedural impropriety.
Those are the only grounds.
A successful application for judicial review does not automatically change the decision it merely makes them revisit the way in which the decision was come to and redecide the matter. The end decision may be the same although it rarely is.
Here is a brief article
http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/you-and-the-judiciary/judicial-review
and more in depth from Wiki which might not be 100% correct but is none the less, very informative.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_review_in_English_law
Judicial Review is expensive so put aside £10 k at least. You will normally get those costs awarded in your favour against the police if you win but against you if you lose.
If all the complaint process doesn’t work, I probably wouldn’t be spending the money on judicial review.
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