Aberdeen is to pilot the groundbreaking domestic violence “Clare’s Law” which allows people to check whether their partner has a violent past.
The north-east family of Clare Wood, who was murdered and set on fire by her abusive boyfriend, last night welcomed the decision to pilot it in Scotland for the first time.
Clare Wood was beaten to death in 2009 in a savage attack by her boyfriend, who she met on Facebook but unknown to her had a long history of violence against women.
Her father, Michael Brown, has tirelessly campaigned to allow people to check with police whether their partner has a record of abusive behaviour.
Today, Police Scotland will reveal that the Scottish pilot of Clare’s Law will be launched in Aberdeen as a new “right to know” approach to domestic abuse takes hold.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is due to visit a domestic violence project in the city to coincide with the announcement.
Both Clare’s father, originally from Aberdeen, and step-sister, Samantha Waldram, of Kintore, Aberdeenshire, said the move to introduce Clare’s Law was justified in order to protect those unaware of the risks they potentially faced.
Under the scheme, people will be able to apply to police to check whether an individual has a record of domestic abuse or violent acts, regardless of whether they have been convicted or not.
Mr Brown said: “Anything that gives men and women another layer of protection from a potentially abusive partner has got to be welcome.
“I thought it was an absolute disgrace that my daughter could not be told about her partner’s past. It then choked me to my core to learn that somewhere between 100 and 120 girls every year die in the same way as my daughter.
“For everyone of those victims, there are at least two people – a mother and a father – who are suffering. And that is just for starters. The death is just the start, like a stone going into a pond. The suffering goes on an on.”
Mr Brown said he has been told by police that Clare’s Law, which was introduced in England and Wales earlier this year, had been a “great success.”
His daughter Clare, a mother-of-one, died after the fatal attack by George Appleton in Salford, Manchester.
Mr Brown, a retired prison officer now of Batley in West Yorkshire, said he was convinced Clare would still be alive had she known about the past of her boyfriend, whose earlier crimes had included the knifepoint abduction of a past girlfriend.
On campaigning for Clare’s Law, Mr Brown added: “I was just a kid from Ferryhill Terrace and I have now spoken in the Palaces of Westminster, I have spoken to the Home Secretary and I have been on television. I was there reluctantly but just had to do this.”
Ms Waldram, the step-sister of Clare, said she was “very, very proud” of what her father has achieved.
The mother-of-three said: “Any little thing that helps a person find out about someone before they invest too much in them, either financially or emotionally, is welcome.
“If it only helps one person, it is one person who doesn’t have to go through what Clare went through and also one family not going to have to go through what our family went through, then it is worth it.”