Disclosure scheme to tackle domestic violence

Greater Manchester Police is to take part in a trial of a new Clare’s Law on domestic violence, the Government has revealed.

The one-year pilot will involve police revealing information about men or women who have a history of domestic violence to new partners.

Greater Manchester Police is one of four forces in England and Wales to trial the idea, which Michael Brown campaigned for following the murder of his 36-year-old daughter Clare Wood, of Salford.

Mum-of-one Miss Wood was strangled and set on fire by former boy friend George Appleton at her home in February, 2009. Appleton, dubbed the Facebook Fugitive after the couple met on the social network, went on the run before hanging himself.

Mr Brown, a former prison officer originally from Aberdeen who now lives in West Yorkshire, said last month the “world is watching for a lead from the UK’s Government.”

Home Secretary Theresa May told Parliament: “Domestic violence is a dreadful form of abuse.

“The fact two people are killed by their current or former partner each week in England and Wales shows just how urgent is the need for action. The Government is committed to ensuring the police and other agencies have the tools necessary to tackle domestic violence to bring offenders to justice and ensure victims have the support they need to rebuild their lives.

“The pilot follows the consultation I published in October, 2011, where I sought views on whether the protection available to victims of domestic violence could be enhanced by establishing a national disclosure scheme with recognised and consistent process for the police to disclose information to potential victims.

“We will consider the outcomes of the pilot very carefully. I want to ensure the public has confidence a clear framework exists with recognised and consistent processes for disclosing information which supports their needs.”

Information could be disclosed by the four forces — Greater Manchester, Nottinghamshire, Gwent, and Wiltshire — under the pilot scheme in two circumstances.

The first would be triggered by a member of the public using a new right to ask for information about an individual.

Alternatively, police officers can release information under a right to know if a known offender is potentially putting a new victim at risk. Existing legal powers are sufficient for the Home Office to carry out the powers so no new legislation is currently proposed.

At the inquest into Miss Wood’s death last year, coroner Jennifer Leeming said women in abusive relationships should have the right to know about the violent past of the men they were with.

In a similar move, Sarah’s Law — named after Sarah Payne who was murdered by paedophile Roy Whiting in 2000 — now gives parents the right to know of any child sex convictions of men with access to their children.

Sandra Horley, chief executive of the domestic-abuse charity Refuge, has criticised the scheme.

She said: “We are at an absolute loss as to why the Government is introducing the new disclosure scheme. It seems to have ignored the concerns of the leading domestic-violence organisations and those of Liberty.

“The new disclosure scheme simply isn’t supported by any of us with the expertise to judge its chances of success.”

Most abusers were not known to the police and, where they were, legislation was already in place to give police powers to disclose information about previous convictions or charges in order to prevent further crime, she said.

“How many women at risk of abuse will actually use the scheme and would it make any difference to them if previous convictions were disclosed?”