Brother of murdered Jennifer Poole calls for domestic violence register
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The brother of a woman who was murdered by her former partner has joined in calls for a domestic violence register that would make available information about anyone who has a conviction for domestic violence.
Jason Poole told RTÉ radio’s show that there needed to be an Irish equivalent of legislation in Britain called Clare’s Law (Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme).
Clare's Law was implemented in England and Wales in 2014 and is named after Clare Wood, a woman murdered by a former partner who police knew to be dangerous. It designates several ways for police officers to disclose a person's history of abusive behaviour to those who may be at risk from such behaviour.
It was time for the Irish Government to act, Mr Poole said. Had the legislation already been in place, he, or his sister Jennifer, could have walked into a Garda station to get information on the previous conviction of her partner Gavin Murphy.
Murphy had previously been convicted of an attack on another partner and her mother, where he produced a knife. The final year of his sentence had been suspended.
Mr Poole said that there should not have been any time off for a knife crime. Had Murphy served his full sentence, he would not have met Jennifer.
The victim had believed her new partner had just returned from Spain when in fact he had been in jail, explained her brother.
Fianna Fáil’s spokesperson on Justice Jim O’Callaghan said that the legislation that is being proposed is victim-centred. It was from conversations with Jason Poole that he realised how important the right to information was.
Under the proposed legislation, gardaí would collate information on perpetrators of domestic violence. It would not just be people with convictions, there would also be information from the Pulse system and gardaí would have the discretion to provide information where there was the possibility of a threat to a new partner.
Mr O’Callaghan said that the gardaí were getting better at investigating domestic violence cases so it was important that they be involved. He was working with the Minister for Justice “on this important and complex issue”.
Every political party had a responsibility to put forward proposals for the legislation which required a coherent response, he said.
Mr Poole said that he and his family wanted to see the legislation introduced so no other family would have to go through what they had experienced and no other woman would experience what had happened to Jennifer.
“She had looked for help. She had tried to get him out of her life.”
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