Force defends its Clare's Law response after death

A police force said it followed the correct procedure around Clare's Law after a woman who requested information via the legislation later took her own life.

Suseel Rana, 36, died in May 2024 and the previous month had made an application to check for a police record of her ex-partner under Clare's Law.

In a prevention of future deaths report, Emma Whiting, a senior coroner in Bedfordshire, expressed concerns about the way in which Bedfordshire Police handled Rana's application.

In response, Bedfordshire Police said the applications "were progressed in accordance with established policy", but it had "taken steps to ensure clarity" around the process.

Whiting said: "Neither the investigating officer nor the supervising officer appeared to recognise that the deceased's level of anxiety, as indicated by her Clare's Law application, required further safety planning."

Rana had suffered from several physical and mental health conditions including bipolar disorder, and was under the care of local mental health teams since 2018, the coroner said.

She also had a history of deliberate overdose, and had reported several domestic abuse incidents since 2021.

On 20 April 2024, Rana's ex-partner was arrested and bailed with protective conditions, following allegations he had made threats to kill her and damaged her home.

She decided not to support the criminal investigation, but on 26 April she made an application under Clare's Law in respect to that ex-partner, Whiting said.

Rana told her mental health crisis team that she was overwhelmed with anxiety and felt unable to leave her house because her ex-partner was living nearby.

The coroner said the police's victim engagement officer spoke to Rana by phone on 13 May and told her there were no grounds for her Clare's Law application to be continued.

Under Clare's Law – known officially as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) – police are not obliged to reveal information.

The guidance says a three-stage test helps police decide "whether any disclosure should be made and to disclose information if it is lawful, i.e. if it is necessary and proportionate to protect the potential victim from crime".

Whiting said the DVDS "had not been progressed by police" and this appeared to be based on "a misunderstanding by the investigating officer that Clare's Law could not be used in respect of a previous partner".

However Bedfordshire Police disputed this, and said it received two applications, one about a newly developing relationship and one about an ex-partner.

"Both applications were accepted, progressed through all relevant stages, subject to intelligence checks and reviewed at supervisory level," the force said.

It added the formal decisions of "non-disclosure" in both cases "were communicated to the deceased".

The force said that the decisions were based on "the absence of relevant disclosable information following intelligence checks" and "consideration of necessity and proportionality".

It said the decision was not due to any policy misunderstanding.

In its response to Whiting, the force said: "Whilst Bedfordshire Police are satisfied that relevant policy and procedures were followed in this case, we recognise the importance of maintaining and reinforcing high standards in safeguarding."

The Home Office responded by thanking Whiting for pointing out that "the guidance is unclear regarding what steps police are required to take, if any, where a decision is taken not to progress a DVDS case to the decision-making stage".

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood added: "I am aware that there are issues and inconsistencies in the way that the DVDS is currently being implemented across forces in England and Wales, and that more needs to be done to make sure the current scheme is working well for victims."

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