Wiltshire charity fears confidence in police damaged after Clare's Law failings
It's after a Police Staff member was found guilty of gross misconduct and banned from future police work
A Wiltshire charity says it fears people might think twice about reaching out to police for help with domestic violence after a former staff member was banned from police work for putting women's safety at risk.
Gavin Hudson, 40, was found guilty of gross misconduct in an investigation by the Police watchdog after he failed to properly handle Clare's Law applications.
The law gives people the Right to Know and Right to Ask if their partner has an abusive history.
Hudson's failings allowed three women to come to harm, with one being stabbed several times by her partner.
FearFree CEO, Debbie Beadle, said: "It's really shocking for anybody to hear that the very people that are there to keep you safe are the ones that have caused direct harm.
"Our fear is that exactly as you say that it's going to mean that people are potentially hesitant to put in Claire's application, or maybe don't have confidence in the response they're getting back."
Ms Beadle stressed that the system is a "really good tool" for keeping people safe, with the majority of cases bringing the required information to stop people coming to harm, calling for people to continue using it.
The Force has vowed to improve, with several changes having been made to bolster training and supervision, to ensure mistakes aren't repeated.
Ms Beadle told us that she's confident the Police can keep getting better, having worked with them during a review of more than 3,700 cases between 2015 and 2023.
She said: "We've been working with them to go through some of those cases that were missed and reassessed, making sure that we're providing support, any victims or people that need support out there.
"We have seen a change. We've seen a commitment to review of the cases and going forward, making sure that they don't make the same mistake."
Ms Beadle added that it underscores the importance of strong vetting procedures when employing people.
"It's important for anybody working a sector that we're really diligent about who we're employing, making sure there are checks whilst people employed to make sure they're doing their jobs properly, that they're people that we can trust and making sure that people don't slip the net."