Kay’s Law crackdown on abusers
Banned from pubs & restaurants Barred from the school gates Blocked from seeing mates
AMID an epidemic of domestic abuse during lockdown, there is finally some hope for victims.
Under new laws, they will be able to bar attackers from pubs, schools and even friends’ houses.
“Kay’s Law” aims to protect women from ex-partners and others facing charges of violent or sexual abuse and stalking but released without strict bail conditions.
It is named after Kay Richardson, a carer murdered by her brutal husband after he was released from arrest and handed keys to her home when police returned possessions.
The new measure will allow police to impose stricter bail conditions after the victim of abuse, violence or rape has been consulted.
Victims will be able to get the suspect excluded from places where they used to go as a couple if they feel at risk from the suspect suddenly
turning up there. That means the alleged attacker could be barred from pubs, clubs and restaurants, school gates or the homes of relatives and friends.
Stricter bail conditions on violent and sexual abusers are also seen as part of the Government’s response to claims it is doing too little to protect women in the outcry after the death of Sarah Everard, 33.
The move comes as a shocking increase in domestic violence made worse by lockdowns has emerged.
A fifth of all crime reported to police in the first lockdown last spring involved domestic abuse. And
every 30 seconds the police receive a call for help relating to domestic violence. There is also stark evidence the judicial system is failing women with prosecutions for rape falling to their lowest level since records began.
Brutal
Karen Ingala Smith, chief executive of domestic violence charity Nia, welcomed Kay’s Law but warned: “Rape and domestic abuse prosecutions are falling and good laws are worthless if they fail in implementation.”
Kay’s Law is part of reforms to the controversial system of “release under investigation”, or RUI, which frees police suspects without bail conditions such as reporting regularly to a police station and keeping a distance from alleged victims.
RUI was brought in four years ago after controversy over innocent celebrities, including Sir Cliff Richard and Jimmy Tarbuck, who were arrested in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sex scandal.
They were kept on police bail for long periods before being told they would not be charged.
But RUI came under increasing scrutiny after Kay Richardson, 49, was bludgeoned and strangled at the Sunderland home jointly owned with her estranged husband Alan Martin, 53, in 2018.
Police said they had no powers to seize the keys because he was a partowner. Bricklayer Martin, who had a history of violent abuse, hanged himself after the murder.
A report by the Crown Prosecution Service last year warned RUI meant that: “The police frequently have not considered the victim’s statement when deciding whether to
apply bail. This means that risks to the victim are sometimes overlooked.” And the number of victims is rising.
Sexual offences against women have tripled in the past three years, according to the Office for National Statistics, with 618,000 recorded by police up to March last year.
According to the UK Femicide Census published in November last year, 62% of 1,425 women killed by men between 2009 and 2019 were victims of current or ex-partners.
Failure
That is the equivalent of one every three days. Of these, 43% were separated or taking steps to separate from the perpetrator.
The charity Refuge says one in four women will experience domestic abuse over the course of her lifetime. It is supporting about 6,500 women and children in rebuilding their lives.
On average, 240 women call the National Domestic Abuse Helpline
every single day. But Helen Ross, of the ONS centre for crime and justice, said surveys suggested fewer than one in six victims of rape report the crime to police.
And the RUI rule created a 65% drop in the use of bail in domestic abuse cases in the first three months after its introduction in 2017, leading the Centre for Women’s Justice to warn of a systemic failure to safeguard a highly vulnerable section of society.
Kay's Law is part of the Police, Crime and Courts Bill unveiled by Home
Secretary Priti
Patel last week amid a hail of criticism that it does more to protect historic statues than women.
The Bill follows the death of Sarah Everard,
who disappeared in South London as she walked home two weeks ago and an outcry over police treatment of women attending a vigil for the marketing accounts manager last Saturday.
Ms Patel said: “I can’t imagine the pain and suffering of the families of victims like Kay Richardson.
“I want them to know their voices have been heard. Victims must be protected while allegations are investigated and victims will be put at the heart of the bail system.”
Kay’s Law has been welcomed by women’s justice groups and victims. Zoe Dronfield, whose expartner James Smith stalked and subjected her to a horrific eighthour attack in 2014, said: “Obviously all these things are great, they put more stipulations around the offenders and aim to keep the victims safe. Victims go back to abusers because they can’t get away. This seems to be about keeping the abuser away, which is a good thing.” But some feel the law should go even further. Rachel Horman-brown, of Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service, supported the proposal.
But she said: “Dangerous perpetrators of domestic abuse, stalking and sexual assault should ideally be remanded in custody – this is the only way to guarantee victims’ safety.”
Lisa King of Refuge, the national domestic abuse charity, said: “Far too many survivors of domestic and sexual abuse who bravely report crimes to the police see alleged perpetrators released under investigation, meaning there are no restrictions on contacting the survivor. Refuge welcomes any reforms which ensure the safety of a survivor.”
Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-symonds said: “The Government has been irresponsible having so many people released under investigation.
“Despite some changes we will still be in a position where for many victims there is no regular communication and suspects are walking the streets.”