header-logo header-logo

Warning over Sarah's Law pilots

13 April 2007
Issue: 7268 / Categories: Legal News , Local government , Public , Community care
printer mail-detail

Parents and teachers will be able to access information about paedophiles in their area as part of a pilot scheme to be announced by John Reid, the Home Secretary.

The trial of Sarah’s Law—a version of Megan’s Law in the US—will allow single mothers to ask police about the risk posed by new partners, while headteachers will be told about dangerous offenders in their communities. Parents will not be given names and addresses, but will be told how many offenders are in their area. Sara Payne, the mother of the murdered schoolgirl Sarah, says she welcomes the news. But child experts warn it could backfire.

Barnardo’s chief executive Martin Narey says he is shocked by news of the trials, claiming his  organisation and the NSPCC had been assured the pilots would not take place. He says: “This is very, very bad news. Our only concern is children and this will put children’s lives in danger.”

Sex offenders, he says, may be driven underground. “Sex offenders are very difficult to supervise…if we have

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
back-to-top-scroll