Clare's Law pilot scheme begins in Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester will now be one of four areas in England and Wales to trial a pilot scheme, known as Clare's Law, allowing people to check if their partner has had a violent or abusive past.

It comes after a campaign for a change in the law to help protect women from domestic abuse by Michael Brown, the father of a murder victim Clare Wood.

Mr Brown's 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.

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, Coroner Jennifer Leeming said women in abusive relationships should have the right to know about the violent past of the men they were with.

The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) pilot offers people a formal mechanism to make enquiries about an individual who they are in a relationship with, or who is in a relationship with someone they know, and have a violent or abusive past.

If police checks show that a person may be at risk of domestic abuse from their partner, the police will consider disclosing the information.

Greater Manchester Police joins police forces in Gwent, Wiltshire and Nottingham in the pilot, which will end in September 2013.

For further information about the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, or to make a request for information under it, contact Greater Manchester Police on 101 or the women's domestic abuse helpline, Independent Choices, on 0161 636 7525.