Clare's Law failings led to harm, say Wiltshire Police

Chief Constable Catherine Roper said there had been "a catastrophic service failure"

A police force's failings over a domestic abuse disclosure scheme led people to come to harm, its Chief Constable has admitted.

In October, Wiltshire Police launched a review into 3,582 disclosure requests made under Clare's Law since 2015.

Chief Constable Catherine Roper said the review had identified two people who had come to harm which could have been prevented.

The initial review is expected to be completed in the coming days.

Wiltshire Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after it emerged people might have been given wrong information after they made applications for information under Clare's Law.

Wiltshire was a pilot area for the scheme, which allows people to ask if their partner has an abusive past.

Ms Roper said it had been "a catastrophic service failure" and apologised again for the failings, saying "we have let people down".

She added: "There was a key time between April 2015 and August 2023 where we identified that Clare's Law applications had not been processed as they should have been, and there were potentially people who had been put at risk as a result.

"Out of those 3,582 (applications) we identified two people who we believe have come to harm which may have been able to have been prevented had Clare's Law applications been processed as they should have been."

The Chief Constable said "no stone would be left unturned" and that anyone found to be responsible for failings would be held to account.

She added that action plans would be put in place for any applications in which "next steps" need to be taken, and there would be further updates when all applications and risk assessments had been completed.

"My response is being led by the Deputy Chief Constable Craig Dibdin. I have told him that no stone will be left unturned so who knew what, who did what, when was it happening and what was our process," added Ms Roper.

Wiltshire Police is currently in special measures

Former Met commander Ms Roper was speaking to BBC Radio Wiltshire as part of a wide-ranging interview on a number of topics.

She took over from the retiring Kier Pritchard in February 2023 when the force was in special measures, and although it remains in the same position, she believes that performance is improving.

Ms Roper said should would not commit a time for when the force would come out of special measures, but added: "I do believe we are significantly down that improvement journey now."

She said she thought "considerable improvements" had been made and that Wiltshire Police is in a better position that it was 12 months ago.

The chief constable said resources had been put into making police more visible and that arrests and successful prosecutions for crimes including domestic abuse and burglary had increased.

Future plans for Salisbury's long-awaited police station are still being made with a need for "greater visibility" in south Wiltshire, she added.

Follow BBC West on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [e-mail]