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Dublin: 12 °C Friday 24 May, 2013

‘Clare’s Law’ gives info on violent partners

The pilot scheme means that people living in certain parts of England and Wales can request police information about whether their parter has a history of domestic violence.

Clare Woods, whom the law is called after
Clare Woods, whom the law is called after
Image: Greater Manchester Police/PA Wire/Press Association Images

PEOPLE WHO WANT to find out if their partners have a history of domestic violence will be able to request the information from police under a new UK pilot scheme.

Unofficially called “Clare’s Law’, it will apply to people living in Greater Manchester, Nottinghamshire, Wiltshire and Gwent, BBC News reports.

It has been given the name ‘Clare’s Law’ after Clare Woods, whose violent ex-partner George Appleton murdered her in 2009.

He had a violent background and her father Michael Brown has campaigned since his daughter’s death for people to be able to find out if their partner has a violent past.

Mr Brown spoke to BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, the Telegraph reports, and said that he believed if Clare knew about Appleton’s past, “she would have dropped him like a hot brick and scampered out of there”.

However, the chief executive of the charity Refuge told The Telegraph that it was unlikely Wood was killed because she didn’t have the information, and more likely “because the police did not respond to her emergency 999 call for help”.

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Comments (7 Comments)

  • I think the main problem here is that the vast majority of the perpetrators of domestic violence never make it to the courts, never mind acquire a conviction for it.

    Reply
  • Seems a good idea, but I’d be very worried about all the privacy of information issues. If someone applied to gain access to information held another person’s file, what proof would the have to give to confirm that they are in a relationship with that first person? What structures would be in place to avoid misuse by marketing / profiling agencies…

    Reply
  • I hate the trend of naming laws after victims. It encourages the passing of bad laws (I’m not talking about this one specifically) by appealing to emotion over reason.

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  • Many people know that their partners are violent long before they raise a hand to them , i know some never leave even when given the oppurtunity arises.
    I don’t think This law will change anything

    Reply
  • This law will do nothing to stop violent people being violent. It will simply take the onus off the police to sort it out, now abused men and women will be told its their fault for not doing the adequate checks in the first place.

    Reply
  • If some one hits you or slaps you once they will more than likely do it again, so there is no need for this law just people need to wise up and realise that if it happens once its time to get out just leve, dont ask why, dont listen to the made up excuses, just run . This law is just another way of invading privacy, anyone think what may happen in the event of a wrongful conviction, because this happens too.

    Reply
  • Wouldn’t you like to know the history of a car before you buy it?

    Reply

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