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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Shanti Das Home Affairs correspondent

Revealed: police refusing requests for background checks on violent partners

A woman with her back to the camera sitting on an unmade bed looking out of a window
Official data has revealed that in the last two years 50,686 out of 83,790 applications to police in England and Wales under the domestic violence disclosure scheme failed to result in information being provided. Photograph: Boy_Anupong/Getty Images

Police in England and Wales are leaving people at risk of domestic abuse by refusing to release information on suspected violent partners, the Observer can reveal, with one force declining 95% of requests for checks.

Under Clare’s law – named after Clare Wood, 36, who was murdered in 2009 by her ex-boyfriend George Appleton – people have a right to ask police whether a partner or ex-partner has a history of abusive behaviour.

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