Former Wiltshire Police worker barred over Clare’s Law failures
Gavin Hudson found guilty of gross misconduct after failing to properly check abuse disclosures.
Last updated 9th Oct 2025
Former Wiltshire Police worker, Gavin Hudson, has been barred from any policing role after a disciplinary hearing found he committed gross misconduct for failing to properly examine Clare’s Law applications.
The police watchdog began investigating Hudson following a referral from Wiltshire Police in September 2023.
Investigators found that between 2023 and 2024, Hudson inadequately researched requests for disclosure about potential abusers, sometimes telling applicants there was nothing on record without checking police systems.
He also sent out “No Further Action” letters without supervisor review.
In one case, a man whose record included a Violent & Sexual Offender warning marker later stabbed his partner multiple times. Hudson had failed to uncover that information.
Hudson was suspended from the organisation in September 2023 and resigned in July 2024.
Had he not resigned, the panel said he would have been dismissed without notice. He’s now on the police barred list.
IOPC Director Derrick Campbell said:
“Hudson’s failures left women unaware of danger. We must ensure Clare’s Law is applied properly across all forces.”
Wiltshire Police Chief Constable Catherine Roper has apologised for the failures, and revealed there were two previous referrals made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) about Hudson.
She said: “We have failed in our primary duty to protect people from harm, and I cannot overemphasise the depth of the apology I issued when we first found out about these critical service failures.
“The critical service failures, including those of Gavin Hudson, resulted in at least three women being subsequently harmed. Had we provided them with the right information, this might have been prevented.
“Between October 2023 and May last year, a dedicated team of Wiltshire Police officers and staff systematically reviewed every single Clare’s Law application made to us during the period Gavin Hudson and others worked in this area of business – the review covered applications made from April 2015 – August 2023.
“Of the 3,778 reviews, we identified 33 failures – as a result of this hearing, we now know that three women were harmed, 17 service failures - where we should have disclosed and didn’t or where inadequate research was done, and 14 administrative failures.
“Gavin Hudson’s dereliction of duty has no doubt undermined the trust and confidence our communities have in our safeguarding processes, and I understand that.
“We have changed our leadership in this area of our organisation and now have more intrusive supervision of this process.
“We will ensure ongoing organisational improvements will be made as a result of the learning from these serious failures.”
Wiltshire's Police and Crime Comissioner Philip Wilkinson said in a statement: "I remain deeply troubled by the events that led to the gross misconduct outcome involving police staff member Gavin Hudson.
"To the women affected - and to the wider public - I want to say: I am sorry. You were failed.
"The systems meant to protect you broke down and individuals did not do their duty to their fullest. That must never happen again.
"This hearing has revealed a serious breach of public trust."
Wiltshire Police have since reviewed over 3,000 Clare's Law applications and identified 33 failures.