West Yorkshire Dad Praises Law Named After Daughter

Just 21 people have had information about their partner's past through the so-called Clare's Law since it was introduced by Police here in March last year. It provides checks on the criminal past - and is named after the daughter of West Yorkshire man Michael Brown - who was murdered by her other half. And whilst the results here might be disappointing - Michael's delighted with how well the scheme seems to be working across the country - where 1,300 people have been given details, "This is just people that are coming to the fore. This is only the tip of the iceberg. There's an awful lot of it not reported, people are frightened to come forward.

"We didn't have the lofty ambitions to do away with domestic violence, that would have been nonsensical. What we did was try to give ladies and gents who were in trouble another weapon in their arsenal. I think we succeeded in that.

"This is just the start. This is what it is in just the first year, all these people know about Clare's Law, they're going to tell another five, another dozen, and next year this is going to snowball."

Miss Wood, 36, was strangled and set on fire by her ex-boyfriend George Appleton at her home in Salford. Unbeknown to Miss Wood, he had a history of violence towards women and was known to prowl online dating websites and Facebook in search of partners, often using different aliases. Appleton was found six days later after her death, hanged in a derelict pub.