Public pressure for action against sex offenders

Welcome for Plans to Warn Communities about Paedophiles

Chief police officers, probation officers and offenders' groups all praised the expected introduction of a limited disclosure of information decided on a case-by-case basis.

The Home Office guidelines will spell out the cirumstances under which the whereabouts of such sex offenders can be made public.

The right of disclosure, however, is limited. The police will only be allowed to advise school head teachers and organisations dealing with youngsters, such as church youth groups.

And it is being stressed that names will only be released in exceptional circumstances, when there is a real potential threat to children.

A vigilante attack on this house led to the death of a child

The guidelines are being published ahead of the introduction of a national sex offenders register, which is being set up under the Sex Offenders Act passed under the previous government.

Anybody jailed for a sex offence for more than 30 months will be entered on the register for life, while those with lesser sentences will be registered for five to ten years.

Paul Cavadino, principal officer of the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO), said: "Present practice varies from one police force to another and national guidelines are important to ensure consistency."

He added: "The Government is right to restrict the use of these powers to exceptional circumstances and to rule out US-style routine public naming of paedophiles. This would lead to vigilante attacks and cause offenders to go to ground, living anonymously and moving around to avoid detection."

Tony Butler of the Association of Chief Police Officers said: "It is important that a case-by-case approach should continue to be taken to the issue of disclosure of information outside the police service."

"There are understandable pressures for the general public to be made more aware in these cases, and the protection of children and other vulnerable people is paramount," he stressed.

The Association of Chief Officers of Probation has warned that it will take some time before the register will become a comprehensive database, and that many sex offenders could still escape detection.