My Lords, in rising to speak to Amendments 132 and 133 I take the opportunity to apologise to the House. I asked a supplementary question at Question Time that related to university funding and I did not refer to my interests in the register.
The amendments are the same as those that we moved in Committee and they are similar to amendments that we have moved to other Bills, but the Government have not acted and women continue to be attacked and killed as men with violent histories are allowed to escalate their behaviour by moving from victim to victim.
In Committee, the Minister said, as many Ministers have said before, that the Government agree that the robust management of perpetrators of domestic abuse and stalking is crucial to keep the public safe and that they completely agree with the spirit of the amendments, but that the objectives can be met through current provision and policy.
I beg to disagree. All the evidence demonstrates that this is not enough. Various initiatives have been, and are being, piloted, and countless letters are written to police forces urging them to make proper use of
Clare’s law and stalking protection orders, but still it is clear that offences on a discretionary basis are not being treated with the same seriousness under MAPPA 2 and MAPPA 3. Where lives are at stake, a postcode lottery—which is what we have at present—is not acceptable.
This year a new report was published, following a national domestic homicide project and a Home Office-funded research project led by the National Police Chiefs Council—the NPCC. It showed that domestic abusers who went on to kill their partners were known to police in 80% of cases. Some 60% of those had been reported to the police specifically for domestic abuse, and a third of offenders were known to other agencies. The NPCC said that this highlighted the need for a
“multi-agency approach to effectively safeguard victims”.
The victims and perpetrators are known by many agencies and the most dangerous and serial perpetrators must be managed by MAPPA in order to close down opportunities for them to reoffend, and to ensure that their history is captured on the violent and sexual offenders register. This must be accessible whenever and wherever they move, just as with sex offenders.
The Minister might refer me to Clare’s law, which is certainly welcome, but it is simply not working in the majority of cases. It leaves the onus on potential victims to protect themselves, instead of placing positive obligations on the perpetrators. It affords no protection when the abuser leaves prison, moves address and targets a new woman—or when they change their name, which many serial perpetrators do.
Women repeatedly report they have been sent away or told by police that they are not a vetting agency. Clare’s law is failing because there is no duty on police to proactively identify, assess and manage serial perpetrators, or to record information about them and share it. NPCC data from October 2021 to March 2022 reveals that at least 56% of criminal background requests made by women were denied. This is truly shocking and demonstrates why the amendments are necessary.
I could cite so many examples that demonstrate the urgent need for these two amendments, but I will limit myself to six cases. I mentioned Zoe Dronfield in Committee. The man who nearly murdered her was released on 2 May. We have had to continuously push to ensure that he is managed at category 3 of MAPPA, when this should have been automatic. There are concerns about future women that he might target. We know that he has changed his appearance, but Zoe is not allowed even to see a photo. Why is it that his rights are being protected?
Chloe Holland was coercively controlled and abused by Marc Masterton. She died in hospital in March 2023 after trying to take her life because of him. Before doing so she reported him for domestic abuse and gave a two-hour video interview. He was sent to prison last year. Hearing of Chloe’s case, another victim, Zoe Castle, had the courage to come forward. Masterton has just been convicted for coercively controlling her and was sentenced to a further three years and seven months.
Zoe had just turned 18 when she moved in with Masterton and she lived in constant fear of him. She had to bend to his will and was fearful that she would
lose her daughter. He hit over the head with a glass bottle, threw her into a wardrobe and, in another incident, picked her up and placed her in a freezing cold bath. When he comes out of prison, this serial perpetrator will do it again—he always does. He should go on a register, with stringent conditions.
“Danielle”—a pseudonym used to protect the victim’s identity for safety reasons—met her ex-partner through work in 2022. About six months into the relationship, it became clear that her new boyfriend had an alcohol problem. She thought she could save him, or that he would change for her, but he turned out to be abusive and attacked her twice in her own home. In a drunken assault, he grabbed her by the throat and hit her head against a wall, leaving only when she managed to reach the front door and scream for help.
Danielle said that she had never heard of Clare’s law when it was mentioned by her social worker soon afterwards, but she agreed to an application for information about her partner being made on her behalf. When the police arrived a few days later, she was shocked by what they told her. Her partner had a record of violent assaults on 20 other women.
In breach of the restraining order issued after the first assault, he broke into her home, seriously assaulting her again. He was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison for common assault and was released earlier this year. Naturally, she is terrified.
Holly Bramley met serial perpetrator Nicholas Metson in 2016 and they married in 2021. Holly had no idea about his previous convictions for offences against former partners in 2013, 2016 and 2017. Twenty-six year-old Holly decided to leave him and on 17 March last year he killed her, cutting her body up into 200 pieces and depositing it in a river.
Holly had a right to know about Metson’s serious and serial offending history.
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Alexis Flavin was strangled by a serial domestic abuser, Jonathan Cole. He had just left prison for attacking his ex-partner when he met Alexis. He had 14 convictions for 16 offences—at least three against previous female partners. Alexis did not know this when she met him and she was not told when she reported him to the police. It was a whirlwind relationship and he proposed quickly. He attacked her one night, dragging her out of bed. She reported him to the police. Later he broke his bail conditions to see her and tell her that he would change. She discovered she was pregnant and dropped the charges. He abused her and tormented her throughout her pregnancy. He stopped her from breastfeeding because he was jealous. One night he was angry, smashed the baby's night light and strangled Alexis. She called the South Wales Police. He was arrested and convicted for strangulation. His lawyer asked for a suspended sentence. Alexis and the baby are lucky to be alive. His history should have been joined up and Alexis told of this when she first reported him for a serious assault. He is now out of prison and another woman is in fear for her life.
Marcus Osborne stalked and murdered Katie Higton and her new partner, Steve Harnett, on 15 May 2023. Osborne had 12 previous convictions for 27 offences. In 2011 he was jailed for 16 weeks for assaulting a
girlfriend by grabbing her throat and punching her. In 2013 he was given a 54-month jail term for grievous bodily harm with intent in an assault on a woman he had been in relationship with for two weeks. The court heard that he punched her and kicked her in the head. Osborne then started a relationship with Katie Higton. When she ended their relationship, he stalked and threatened to kill her. She reported this to West Yorkshire Police and said she was in fear for her life. The police arrested Osborne and let him go on bail. He subsequently murdered her and her partner. Katie was stabbed 99 times in the frenzied assault while Steve received 24 knife wounds. Osborne was an extremely dangerous serial abuser and this was preventable. Why was his history not joined up? Why was he bailed? Why was he allowed to carry out further offences?
In 2001 the extraordinary Laura Richards began analysing domestic and other abusers. Her research revealed that there was no joining-up of the histories of violent men, and that they moved from victim to victim. Twenty years later we continue to see women living in fear, their lives blighted or ended. At least one victim commits suicide every four days and a woman is murdered every three days by a partner or a family member. Women are still not told about the histories of dangerous and violent men even when they report serious violence and abuse. Currently abusers can act with impunity, as demonstrated by the fact that only 1.1% of coercive controllers are convicted and 1.4% of stalkers. This must change. More perpetrators must be brought to justice, and those men who are known to have histories of serial and serious violence against women must not be allowed to move from victim to victim.
The system does not work. It is failing women and children. A condition of the release and licence of these perpetrators should be that they are included in MAPPA and subject to notification requirements so that this information can be shared and accessed nationally, thus saving lives and other lives from being lived in fear. I beg to move.