Clare’s Law is named after Clare Wood. A 36-year-old woman from Yorkshire who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, George Appleton, in 2009.

Clare met George on Facebook, unaware of his past which included a criminal record, he befriended her.

The pair began a relationship, and after 6-months, Clare ended the relationship after it turned coercive.. George however refused to move on, subjecting Clare to consistent abusive behaviour such as harassment, damage to property, threats of violence and attempted assault.

Clare made a police statement and secured a restraining order against George, but his behaviour continued unchecked.

It ended him with him taking Clare’s life, followed by his own days later.

Investigations later revealed that George had a history of violent and abusive behaviour, particularly towards women. Greater Manchester Police were aware of this, but had not disclosed this to Clare when she originally filed her report.

At the time, data protection laws had created a legal loophole which meant that former abusers were able to keep their criminal records confidential.

This meant potential targets like Clare had no way to check or ask Police about previous reports or convictions for previous abusive behaviour.

Following Clare’s death, her father Michael began a campaign to challenge this law.

Michael believes that Clare would not have lost her life if she was aware of George’s violent past. After 5 years of campaigning, Michael changed the law to allow Police to both disclose and proactively inform people of their partner’s criminal records and relevant past convictions.

Clare’s Law was introduced in England and Wales in 2014 under the official title of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS).