Has anyone done clare's law on a friend?

[Cupoftea74]

Hi after speaking to my friend the other day my concerns for her controlling and coercive relationship escalated. I made an application for Clare's law. She of course is now back in love with her partner and is blind to his manipulations and threats. The police are going to continue and I'm really concerned that a) if he finds out he will put a stop to us seeing each other, and I'm the only support she has left, b) she will resent me for sticking my nose in, and not want to see me , he will justify any thing that may come up anyway c) just everything really, have I done the right thing?? How has anyones friends reacted please??

I am astonished that the police are willing to tell you anything at all about a friends partner, under Clare's Law.

Are you sure this happened?

Apparently so...

Clare's Law gives any member of the public the right to ask the police if their partner may pose a risk to them. Under Clare's Law, a member of the public can also make enquiries into the partner of a close friend or family member.

OP- she'll probably be cross with you, while she's in the bubble. But long term, if this protects her, she will appreciate it.

close friends can ask too.

They won’t tell the op. They can take a request from anyone but the person who gets the information is the person potentially at risk.

I might be being stupid here but how would either of them find out? If they were notified surely this goes against everything the law is designed for?

Looks pretty self-explanatory... does it not work like this in practice?

“If we decide to reveal what we find, also called making a 'disclosure', this will usually be to the person at risk. This is unless, in the circumstances, someone else is better placed to use the information to protect the person at risk from abuse.

There may be occasions when we won't let you know whether a disclosure has or hasn't been made.

Any disclosure will be made in person; none of the disclosure is made in writing and you won't be given any documents.”

The police shouldn't tell her who applied for the disclosure. They will just tell her what they feel is relevant from his history. You can always phone to check you will be annonymous and put your mind at rest.

I've made requests on behalf of patients. They've never known it was me that requested it.

And to Pps - the disclosure isnt made to the person who requested it it's only made to the vulnerable person involved. I've known plenty of cases when parents have requested disclosures for the partners of their children, and the police wouldn't tell the parents the information, just the person involved (Although they might hint that the person isn't very nice or they did the right thing to request a disclosure)

I think she will guess it was me. I'm the only friend she is still in contact with. She may think it came from her family but if this is the case she will think they did it vindictively. They wouldn't, he has turned her against them and her views are skewed.

I guess I'm concerned she will think everyone is against her, tell him about anything that is disclosed, he will justify it somehow, and that this could pull them closer together if the timing isn't right.. 😓

Does anyone have any outcomes to tell of?

In my experience (professionally) if he does have an abusive past he's already sown the seed that that ex was crazy, he was the victim. Abusive men groom from the outset. So sadly most women who receive a Clare's law don't leave immediately. But to me it's always still worth doing as u never know who will take heed & it may play a role in her leaving later on. The average DV victim leaves 7 times before she leaves for good.
It's correct that you won't be told anything. I don't want to give more info about the process in case it gets into the wrong hands, plus it varies area to area.
If it was my friend I'd still do it

Also when a Clare Law disclosure is made the person being disclosed to is told to keep the criminal history secret-not to tell anyone, post on Facebook etc or they can face action as it's a civil rights breach.

Thank you fifthteenthnamechange. I think you are right, and whilst she may not take immediate action if there is something on the disclosure a seed will be planted. I have done this absolutely from a place of love and will support her whatever she chooses to do. If there is any information how she chooses to respond is her decision. I just woke up with the fear that I have done the wrong thing and fearful that trouble may ensue. Like I say tho I only want the best for her and have not acted out of malice so I can only hope the outcome is a positive one for her. Thank you for your knowledge and support.