I can’t believe I’m coming off a 2-year probation period after what feels like forever in therapy, hate, nightmares, anger, and disappointment.

Two years ago, on February the 15th 2016, I was charged with perverting the course of justice and Assault.

I should never have been arrested because I have a mental health issue that was and still is undiagnosed.

I also had solicitors who were so unsupportive that they allowed this to happen and made me plead guilty to a charge I have no recollection of and one that I was completely innocent of.

I was made to pay the price for having a mental health problem, just because someone who I thought was my friend made a false complaint against me, it was fake, so that charge got dropped!

There’s more, her friend, who I also thought was a friend of mine, has a husband who is a policeman and she again turned against me. Yes, how convenient!

Her exact words were “Nothing is ever good with you”. I should have these words tattooed to my wrist haha!

I’m not sure why the corrupt CPS charged me with perverting the course of justice when at the time of the incident there was no case to answer to!

The whole thing was a joke.

Another person only received a four-month suspended sentence because they said someone made them do it. Yet my mental illness makes me forget things easily.

I was also accused of punching a police lady, yet there were three of them attacking me, and I have a bulging disc in my back because of them!

What I have learned from probation

The probation system is exceptionally disjointed and a complete waste of time. After my first year, I was put on telephone calls once every six weeks. When this happened, I never heard from probation until six months later when a lady sent me a letter saying that I had missed a telephone call with her and that I was being put back on supervised visits.

After my 12 sessions of rehabilitation had finished, I wasn’t told that I had to be under supervision for the whole two years! Also, I wasn’t aware that sessions with an offender manager were compulsory and didn’t count towards the rehabilitation sessions.

My offender manager changed twice, and the 2nd lady I had referred me to careers. The careers lady suggested I apply for a master’s degree, which I spent, time doing. I was accepted onto the masters. However, I wasn’t told that there was no funding available for people who have degrees and that I would have to apply for a loan to take up the offer until I questioned the careers advisor.

I also asked the last lady who was making six weekly telephone calls to me if there were any courses she could recommend that were free for me to brush up on my skills. I also asked her if she could help me get a computer chair because of my back pain, and she told me that there were no free courses for someone with my level of education and that didn’t know and couldn’t even suggest where I could get one cheaper.

I’ve learned how disjointed and corrupt government services are and money talks. People without money are told what to do and don’t have a say unless they have money to buy themselves out of the situation.

Have you or someone you know ever gone through probation? Let us know your experiences of probation in the comment section or on our social media channels.

Please note names have been changed to protect identities.