A Labour Party candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner has been forced to step down because he was fined £5 for two offences he committed 46 years ago when he was just 13.
Bob Ashford, a former director of strategy at the Youth Justice Board, said the rules surrounding the elections were "flawed" and an "infringement of the rights of young people".
But he said he could not with conscience sign a declaration that he had no legal bar to standing in the knowledge that he had been convicted of criminal offences which would disqualify him.
Mr Ashford, who was standing as the Labour PCC for Avon and Somerset in November's elections, admitted two offences in 1966 when he was a juvenile.
The 59-year-old is the second candidate for the newly created post, which will oversee the police force, to stand down.
Falklands War veteran Simon Weston pulled out of standing for the job in South Wales after questions were also raised over his eligibility.
Mr Weston tweeted that he was disillusioned with the race as it was too political and not serving the people.
But a criminal conviction when he was 14 had also drawn Mr Weston's candidacy into question.
In a statement, Mr Ashford, from Frome, Somerset, said he was standing down "with great regret".
"I am today standing down as Police and Crime Commissioner candidate for Avon and Somerset following clarification the Labour Party has received from the Home Office and the Electoral Commission that youth convictions for imprisonable offences will bar people from becoming a police and crime commissioner," he said.
Mr Ashton was fined £5 by magistrates over an incident regarding an airgun being fired at tin cans by a group of boys. He claims he did not touch the weapon but was told to plead guilty to two charges.
In a lengthy statement he said he had declared the conviction throughout every stage of his career and the PCC process.
He added that he had heard from a Criminal Records Bureau check with his local police that no record of his case exists.
But as a PCC he would have to sign a declaration to say he has no legal bar and to sign this, in the knowledge of his offence, would in itself be a criminal act.
The Home Office and the Electoral Commission have confirmed that youth convictions for imprisonable offences will bar people from becoming a Police and Crime Commissioner.
"I have to say I find this legislation and requirement absolutely flawed and an infringement of the rights of young people," Mr Ashton said.
"The arguments put forward in the House of Commons committee on the amendment to include offences committed by young people in the bar on becoming a PCC take no account of the need to differentiate in law between offences committed by young people and adults, and the necessity for a statute of time on offences committed by young people.
"I understand the arguments in committee re the recruitment of police and offences (to whom the same bar exists) but police officers are not recruited at the age of 59, 46 years after an offence was committed.
"I have spent my entire life working with young people who have been in the care of the local authority or involved in the justice system.
"The foundation of that work has been the recognition that every individual has worth and the ability to change their lives.
"It is ironic that, after a professional and political career spanning my entire life, I am now going to be brought down by a piece of legislation which absolutely contradicts those tenets."
Referring to the incident, he said: "At the time I was 13 years of age in 1966 and living on a council estate in Bristol.
"I had no previous involvement with the police and came from a good and caring family.
"I remember very well the knock on the door from a group of lads I knew from school. They persuaded me to go out with them and I felt I had little choice.
"I also knew from what they said that if I refused they could make my life difficult at school.
"We went to the railway embankment and I felt very uncomfortable about this. One of the lads pulled out an airgun and started shooting at cans.
"I never touched the airgun and felt unable to leave, as I was frightened at what might happen at school.
"A goods train passed and presumably the guard reported our presence to the police, who arrived a short time later.
"The lads with the airgun ran away whilst I and two others froze and were arrested.
"My next memory is of the police coming to my house and talking to my parents in a separate room.
"The police never questioned me, to my knowledge. I then went to court and was, to the best of my knowledge, charged with trespass on the railway and possession of an offensive weapon.
"I was told to plead guilty to the two charges even though I had never touched the airgun.
"I was fined £2 and 10 shillings on both counts. Both of these offences are, to the best of my knowledge, 'imprisonable' offences."
Mr Ashton said he had seen the post of PCC as a "natural opportunity" to develop his career and use his knowledge and expertise for the benefit of his local community.
"I have to say that it had never occurred to me that an offence committed 46 years ago, and which would now almost certainly be dealt with without going to court, would bar me at all," he said.
"I did, however, become concerned about the ruling and on July 19 I contacted the Labour Party's HQ seeking clarification."
The clarification came back and Mr Ashton was told he would have to stand down.
Mr Ashton added: "As you might imagine I am both unhappy with the circumstances which have led to this position and apologetic to all those supporters who have backed my campaign for a position I felt passionate about and for which I believed I was well- qualified."
Police and Crime Commissioners will be elected in 41 areas across England and Wales on November 15.