Closing a legal loophole allowing registered sex offenders to change their name would end “the real, immediate and significant risk of harm” it poses, a Conservative MP has said. Mark Fletcher told MPs there was an “automatic right for sex offenders out of prison to be able to change (their) name”, adding: “It doesn’t take a genius to realise that sex offenders are not the most trustworthy group.”
The MP for Bolsover said his Bill would prohibit a person subject to notification requirements under Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 from changing their name, adding it was backed by two former home secretaries and a former justice secretary.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Fletcher said: “This Bill is one of several steps that need to be taken to fix safeguarding in this country and to ensure that those who have committed some of the most heinous crimes including rape, assault by penetration, indecent photographs of children offences and sexual communications with a child are not able to use a loophole to change their names to escape scrutiny, authorities and in some cases end up working with children and vulnerable people.”
