'Clare's law' scheme launches to tackle domestic violence

The Home Secretary Theresa May has announced plans to pilot "Clare's Law" in Greater Manchester, Gwent, Nottinghamshire and Wiltshire.

The scheme will run for 12 months as part of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme "Clare's Law," in which women will have the right to ask police about their partner's history.

However, the scheme has received fierce criticism over the affect it will actually have on women being abused. Leading domestic violence charity Refuge has warned the cost of setting up "Clare's Law" pilot schemes would outweigh the benefits.

But Ms May has said the fact that two people were killed by their current or former partner each week in England and Wales showed the need for action.

It comes after a campaign for a change in the law to help protect women from domestic abuse by Michael Brown, whose daughter, Clare Wood, was strangled and set on fire by her ex-boyfriend, George Appleton, at her home in Salford in February 2009.

Appleton, dubbed the "Facebook Fugitive", then went on the run before hanging himself.

Mr Brown, a former prison officer originally from Aberdeen who now lives in West Yorkshire, said the scheme "certainly can't harm" women.

His daughter's life would have been saved if the law had been in place when she was alive, he said.

Miss Wood, 36, a mother-of-one, had met Appleton on Facebook, unaware of his horrific history of violence against women, including repeated harassment, threats and the kidnapping at knifepoint of one of his ex-girlfriends.

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

Ms May has said that the move is necessary to tackle domestic violence and to bring offenders to justice. She said:

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has welcomed the move, claiming it is a "tribute to Clare's family". She said:

The 12-month trial of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS), which will start in the summer, will be based on a "right to ask", enabling someone to ask police about their partner's previous history of domestic violence or violent acts.