Parents and teachers will be able to access information about paedophiles in their area as part of a pilot scheme to be announced by John Reid, the Home Secretary.
The trial of Sarah’s Law—a version of Megan’s Law in the US—will allow single mothers to ask police about the risk posed by new partners, while headteachers will be told about dangerous offenders in their communities. Parents will not be given names and addresses, but will be told how many offenders are in their area. Sara Payne, the mother of the murdered schoolgirl Sarah, says she welcomes the news. But child experts warn it could backfire.
Barnardo’s chief executive Martin Narey says he is shocked by news of the trials, claiming his organisation and the NSPCC had been assured the pilots would not take place. He says: “This is very, very bad news. Our only concern is children and this will put children’s lives in danger.”
Sex offenders, he says, may be driven underground. “Sex offenders are very difficult to supervise…if we have a Megan’s or a Sarah’s Law they will flee that
