Hi Bev
The police now repremand and finally warn children.
It appears you are looking back 20 years when the police would caution children.
All police forces had different policies or procedures for cautioning.
If the person had a clean record as an adult and a minor theft as a children 20 odd years ago.
Well an enhanced disclosure CRB check shows all police and criminal convictions. A caution is not a criminal conviction and as long as the person is totally honest on the application the police or any other secure employer will weight the disclosure accordingly.
The person quoted has a police record not a criminal record.
The same applies to becoming a solicitor I know of a number of the legal people who have erred in the past.
Time is a great healer and people only learn by making mistakes.
Hope this helps I'm sure the legal eagles on AB will flood in with some more answers