WOMAN STABBED SEVERAL TIMES IN CATALOGUE OF FAILINGS BY POLICE WORKER
A former Wiltshire Police staff member who put women at risk of domestic abuse by failing to examine Clare's Law applications has been barred from policing.Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme researcher Gavin Hudson’s job involved checking if a woman’s partners or ex-partners had violent pasts, but he skimmed through his training and often did not bother to carry out his duties, which led to women being put at risk or suffering abuse.
In July 2022, an application made on a woman’s behalf should have flagged up that the woman’s partner had a Violent and Sexual Offender Register warning marker against his name.
But Hudson failed to research this information, and the partner was later jailed for attempted murder after stabbing her several times in 2023.
An investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct led to a disciplinary hearing, which concluded with a panel at Devizes Police headquarters on Thursday that upheld seven out of 16 allegations against Hudson and ruled he would have been dismissed without notice for gross misconduct had he not resigned in July 2024.
The IOPC started looking into his behaviour after receiving a conduct referral from Wiltshire Police on September 5, 2023, when he was suspended.
Between September 2023 and April 2024, the force referred a total of 10 Clare’s Law applications and three linked complaints to the IOPC for scrutiny.
Clare's Law allows people to ask police if a partner or former partner has a history of violence or abuse and is designed to protect potentially vulnerable people.
The IOPC found that Hudson inadequately researched requests for information on potential abusers, even telling some applicants that there was nothing on file about their partners without checking any police systems.
Some women who were denied access to information that would have revealed their partners had abusive pasts went on to suffer emotional abuse and violence.
In another 2022 application, Hudson failed to identify that the subject’s Police National Computer record contained details of a domestic assault on a previous partner, but he closed the application without any further action.
There were also instances where he sent out No Further Action letters to applicants without asking his supervisor to review the applications.
A Police Staff Disciplinary Hearing concluded that Hudson breached police standards of professional behaviour in relation to honesty and integrity, instructions, work and responsibilities, and discreditable conduct.
He will now be placed on the barred list so he cannot be employed in policing again in the future.
IOPC Director Derrick Campbell said: “Hudson did not follow Home Office guidance, and left several women unaware of the potential danger their partners presented to them.
“His dereliction of duty had real consequences as some of the women later suffered domestic abuse.
“We’ve listened to the victims to hear their stories and understand how they were affected.
“Many of them said they would have ended their relationships had the information on their partners been disclosed to them.
“Hudson’s actions will have undermined public confidence in the effectiveness of Wiltshire Police’s DVDS processes."
