Data Protection Act 1998

Hi, I was in London from Aug 2005 to Aug 2007. In Dec 2006 there was an incident in a super market which was not done intentionally but have to pay a fine to Retail Loss Prevention due to situtaion. I am planning to apply for work permit from India again and want to findout whether this will impact my visa processing as I understand that information is held in Data Protection Act 1998.

below is the information that I have received from Retail Loss Prevention on behalf of the supermarket and I have paid the compensation without any delay. Basically I had received a letter from Retail Prevention Loss few days later the incident took place and I paid the compensation within 21 working days. While filing the Work Permit Form, should I declare this incident or not. If declared what will be the % of getting the visa without any issue. Please advise.
' Irrespective of any criminal prosecution, your wrongful actions entitle our client to pursue a civil claim against you for financial compensation through the County Court. The legal basis for your liability in this regard is as follows:-
By taking goods without intending to pay for them you wrongfully interfered with out client's rights in the goods. Your wrongful actions mean that you will be deemed to have entered our client's store as a trespasser. Your right of entry on to our client's premises was limited to the right to browse and purchase items offered for sale.
However, entirely"without prejudice" to the above, our client would be prepared to accept 95 pound in full and final settlement of all the civil claims it has against you provided that payment is made within twenty one days. Settlement of the civil claim will not, however, affect any decision to prosecute you in the criminal Court, save that our client would confirm that no compensation order will be sought in any criminal proceedings.
If you fail to pay the compensation sought, our client reserves the right to commence legal proceedings through the County Court or our Debt Recovery agency to recover all of its financial losses, together with costs and interest. If a County Court Judgment is obtained, this is likely to adversely affect your ability to obtain credit in the future.
You are also notified that the personal information we hold may also be used, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, to prevent crime and detect offenders including verifying details on applicaiton forms. '

i am no authority on the subject but if i were in your position i would be very relaxed...

First of all they are talking about county courts etc. which means its not criminal case. Also the fact that you paid the amount requested from you within given time frame, the case is considered settled and you should be fine.

i would not mention it anywhere in the application form as the section in application form only refers to criminal history. But i would mention it in the covering letter briefly, and state how the case was settled.

you should not lose sleep over this trivial matter in my opinion.

regards