POLICE should be compelled to tell women if their partner is an abuser, an MSP has said.

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, Pauline McNeill called on the government to consider reforming the Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Scotland, known as Clare’s Law.

Currently, someone who is concerned about their partner can use a form on Police Scotland’s website to ask about the background of their partner.

It also allows concerned relatives and friends to ask about someone’s partner. 

DSDAS does also currently give Police Scotland the power to tell people that they may be at risk.

However, Ms McNeill said officers should “directly inform women if they find themselves in a relationship with an ex-offender.”

Clare’s Law, introduced in 2015, was named after 36-year-old Clare Wood who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2009.

She had been unaware he had a history of abuse against women.

Justice Secretary Keith Brown said that Police Scotland's Domestic Abuse Disclosure scheme had helped “safeguard those who have been suffering from or at risk of domestic abuse.” 

He told MSPs: “By the fifth anniversary of the operation of the scheme in 2020 over 8400 requests had been made to the scheme and 4536 people had been told that their current partner had a violent or abusive past.” 

Ms McNeill’s call for reform came during a question on the measures in place to prevent serious violent offenders from evading justice by changing their names.

Mr Brown told MSPs that there were already a number of procedures in place to keep track of sex offenders, irrespective of what aliases they used. 

He said multi agency public protection arrangements organised by police and social work and others provided “a robust statutory framework for the management of high risk offenders in the community”. 

These arrangements would contain details of any aliases.

Conservative justice spokesperson Russell Findlay said it was still possible for predators to “hide their identity”. 

He pointed to the cases of convicted rapist Jason Graham, who changed his name to Jason Evans before going on to sexually assault and murder Esther Brown last year.

He was granted early release in June 2018 and was being monitored as a registered sex offender.

Mr Findlay also raised the case of Scott Storey, who was out on licence from prison after serving 12 years for a fatal knife attack on his partner.

He changed his name to Scott Stewart and started a relationship with another woman, who he later attacked with an axe. 

Mr Findlay said allowing violent criminals to “change names enables them to hide in our communities and puts people at risk”.

He asked the minister for “a clear commitment to closing this loophole.” 

Mr Brown said: "There are quite a range of checks which are currently undertaken. If it's the case that the member's able to identify a loophole or some improvement to the system, then, once again, whether it's the member himself or any other member, who wishes to discuss that, it's quite a complex landscape, I'm more than happy to discuss that, because we should all want to improve the safety of our communities.” 

Ms McNeil said Scott Storey was a “prime example of the need to constantly review our law.” 

She said: “Clare's Law, as the cabinet secretary already mentioned, the domestic abuse disclosure scheme requires women to make the enquiry. 

“I wonder if the Cabinet Secretary could clarify today, or in writing to me, if it is in fact an offence not to disclose a new relationship. I know there's a requirement to tell your social workers, but I want to know is it an offence? Should that be reviewed? 

“Does the Cabinet Secretary believe that perhaps a review of Clare’s Law to allow police officers to directly inform women if they find themselves in a relationship with an ex-offender is something we could consider?” 

Mr Brown said he was happy to discuss the proposals and “see what improvements can be made”.