Home Office Disowns Plan For UK Version Of Megan’s Law

The Home Office last night disowned plans to pilot a British version of Megan’s Law aimed at sex offenders, after a barrage of criticism from child protection agencies.

Whitehall sources said a Labour MP who announced to the News of the World three pilot schemes allowing parents to know how many sex offenders live in their neighbourhoods or on popular local school routes, was “getting ahead of himself”.

Dan Norris, the Labour MP for Wansdyke, where one of the pilot schemes is to be held, said he made the announcement after speaking to the home secretary, John Reid.

But Home Office sources said last night that although three pilot schemes are to go ahead they are unlikely to include the proposal to give numbers of sex offenders on such a local basis. Instead the pilot schemes are to include plans announced in December allowing single mothers to check if a new partner has a criminal record for child abuse.

Headteachers are already being informed of sex offenders living in nearby probation hostels and the number of registered sex offenders is published for each police division or basic command unit.

The proposal floated at the weekend to tell the public how many paedophiles are living in designated streets and the degree of risk they pose – without disclosing names and addresses – was criticised as likely to drive paedophiles underground and trigger vigilante attacks.

There were also complaints about the way the initiative was floated in the News of the World, which has been campaigning for the names and addresses of all sex offenders to be published, at a time when local election rules forbid government departments making controversial policy announcements until after polling day.

The newspaper described the decision to run three pilot schemes for three to six months as “a historic victory”.

But the decision was criticised by police, probation, children’s charities and social services chiefs. Sir Chris Fox, former president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, warned of the danger of vigilante attacks.

“An atmosphere can be built up where a total innocent comes under threat.”

Martin Narey, chief executive of children’s charity Barnardo’s and former head of the prisons and probation services, said: “Sex offenders are very difficult to supervise… If they flee that supervision, and you can be sure that if we have a Megan’s or a Sarah’s law, they will flee that supervision, they are unsupervised and much more dangerous.”