Campaigners welcome roll-out of 'Sarah's law' on paedophiles

Home Secretary Alan Johnson signalled that the pilot programme, which allows parents to check if someone with access to their children has a history of child sex offences, was to be rolled out.

Despite fears from some quarters that the move could lead to a rise in vigilante-style attacks and drive paedophiles underground, campaigners insist it would help to bolster children’s long-term safety.

The scheme has been trialled in parts of Warwickshire, Cambridgeshire, Cleveland and Hampshire.

The programme, known as Sarah’s Law, was proposed following the abduction and murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne by convicted sex offender Roy Whiting 10 years ago.

The girl’s mother, Sara, was crowned the Government’s Victims Champion after her ceaseless attempts to bring in the law based on the so-called Megan’s Law in the US, which allows the publication of names, addresses and pictures of paedophiles in some states.

She told yesterday’s News of the World: “In all the long years of campaigning for parents’ rights to keep their children safe from predatory paedophiles, this is the most important development to date.”

More than 150 parents have made inquiries under the trial scheme which started in September 2008 and 10 of these were given “relevant information”, the Home Office confirmed.

Labour MP and former child protection officer Dan Norris said there was now a “moral duty” to bring in the scheme.

But the Liberal Democrats were more cautious, home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne calling for more information on the trials.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: “Protecting children and families from sex offenders is one of my top priorities and the UK already has one of the most robust systems of managing sex offenders in the world.

“The development of this scheme is a major step forward in our ability to protect children from sex offenders.

“Early results are extremely encouraging and the pilot has provided crucial protection for children who might otherwise be at risk.

“We are still evaluating the results from the year-long pilot and are talking to the police and children’s charities before a final decision on rolling out the scheme is made shortly.”

The move was backed by the Tories. Shadow home affairs spokesman Chris Grayling said: “We are very sympathetic to what the Home Office is trying to achieve and if the pilots have worked properly we would be happy to see the scheme extended.”

The founder of children’s charity Kidscape, Michele Elliott, welcomed the move but questioned the timing of the announcement.

She explained: “We are absolutely delighted, we have been campaigning for this, we think it’s good for children and it’s about time.

“It’s interesting that they have chosen to do this now with an election around the corner, it’s a popular thing, but whatever the motivation of the politicians it’s important that parents will now be able to get access to this information.”

She downplayed fears that rolling out the scheme could lead to vigilante attacks and said the move could help create a more rational view about paedophiles in society.

She explained: “I think the more information you give people the less likely they are they are to become vigilantes.

“People will start to trust each other and see that there are not as many paedophiles out there as they think. They are a very small minority who create huge numbers of victims.”