Visit to UK with a simple caution

[croatian_traveler]

I am not sure if this is correct forum to ask, but maybe somebody can help me.

My wife have received simple police caution in June 2013 as a result of a quite strange series of events. She was caught carrying a 'firearm', CS (pepper) spray while trying to enter a museum when we visited London on holidays. Police officers have put her in custody and issued a simple caution for 'possesing a weapon for the discharge of noxious liquid, contrary to selection 5(1)(B) of and schedule 6 to the firearms act 1968'. It sounds horrific, but in my country (Croatia), which is part of European Union, CS (pepper) spray are legal, can be bought legally in shops and carried on streets. Girls often carry this spray for self-defense. Croatia is an EU country, with EU legislative, so we expected that the same rules and law apply in UK as in other parts of EU. We were mistaken.

Now, my question is: can we expect to have problems entering UK in the future? We travel quite a lot to London for holidays, at least once a year, and we plan to do it again in September, just 3 months after the caution was issued.

Is there any possibility that the immigration officer at the UK border will refuse entry to my wife for a touristic visit? Does she need to apply for an entry clearance or visa as a non-visa holder? According to the EU right to freely travel across the EU, we shouldn't have any problems, but I am not so sure.

Police officers told us that we shouldn't have any problems, but they are not 100% sure. The same goes for a solicitor who came to the police station to advise my wife.

Thanks for any help.

[Amber]

Unless your wife is deemed to pose a risk to national security or public interest. Ignorance of the law is no excuse in criminal law. She should be careful in the future.

[croatian_traveler]

Unless your wife is deemed to pose a risk to national security or public interest. Ignorance of the law is no excuse in criminal law. She should be careful in the future.

Yes, we are very aware of that as we traveled quite a lot. But still, you would expect that the legislative is more or less the same in all EU countries, or the political union does not make much sense, except for some very well known differences (as in the case of drugs).

Anyway, she made a mistake unintentionally, which is not an excuse, and I really do not see how she can present a threat to the national security or public interest as she is respected member of our community (MSc, soon PhD in natural sciences), with no criminal history.

[Amber]

Criminal law is not the same in Europe well especially not when it varies from common law to civil law.

[croatian_traveler]

So, do you think she might have problems next time she visit UK?

[Amber]

I doubt it.