A police force is reviewing thousands of applications made under Clare’s law, which gives people the right to ask whether a partner has a violent past, after it came to light that wrong or incomplete information has been given.
Wiltshire police is to review more than 3,500 Clare’s law applications made between April 2015 and 2023, and one member of staff has been suspended.
Wiltshire police’s chief constable, Catherine Roper, said on Thursday there had been failures to disclose information that could have protected people at risk of domestic violence. She apologised and told anyone who felt they were in immediate danger to dial 999.
Philip Wilkinson, the police and crime commissioner for Wiltshire, said: “These failures by Wiltshire police to carry out its duty and to protect those at risk of domestic or sexual violence is truly shocking. There are no words which can convey how appalled I am.
“I am horrified at the prospect there may be more victims of domestic or sexual assault who could have been safeguarded by the force.”
The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), began looking at the force’s handling of Clare’s law when a Wiltshire woman was attacked by the television extra Oliver Cox in a hotel bedroom in December 2018.
The woman had contacted Wiltshire police for a Clare’s law check on Cox and been told there was nothing in his past of concern. However, after she was attacked it was established Cox had a documented history of domestic abuse. While the date of birth the woman had provided was incorrect, further checks should have identified Cox and his past.
In 2021 the IOPC found that a researcher responsible for working on Clare’s law applications did not have direct access to the police national database. The researcher was able to ask a colleague to carry out the checks but the IOPC said this meant the researcher did not have “timely access” to the information they needed.
A new IOPC investigation began in September into how Wiltshire police handled Clare’s law cases after a referral to the watchdog from the force highlighted concerns about a member of staff.
Roper said she accepted there had been failures, adding: “We are now conducting an urgent audit of Clare’s law applications made to us since April 2015, which is when the member of staff began working in this department.
“The total number of applications made to us between April 2015 and the end of August 2023 is just over 3,500. We have allocated dedicated resources to review every application made to us since April 2015. Where we feel there is any risk to any individual, we will be attempting to contact the applicants.
“As we work to fully understand the extent of these failures … it is vital that we are honest and transparent with our communities and so are reaching out to explain the current situation. I would like to take this opportunity to wholeheartedly apologise on behalf of the organisation to anyone we have let down.”
The IOPC said: “We are examining police records and documentation to investigate whether the relevant applications were handled in accordance with local and national policies. We are also considering the staff member’s training history.”
Clare’s law was introduced in England and Wales in 2014 after the death of Clare Wood, 36, who was murdered by her former boyfriend George Appleton in 2009 in Greater Manchester. He had a history of violence of which Wood was unaware.
Wiltshire police said anyone who had made a Clare’s law application to them between April 2015 and August 2023 and was concerned could email: clareslaw@wiltshire.police.uk More information is available from Wiltshire police.
