Set a web spy on your partner - for just £200: Is new website a positive step in the war on domestic violence or a boon for nosy neighbours?

New website Are They Safe checks criminal records of people's partners 

Laura Lyons set up site after finding her husband had history of violence

Concerned people can pay up to £350 for 'enhanced background checks' 

But there are concerns the site could be used by snooping neighbours 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2854416/Set-web-spy-partner-just-200-new-website-positive-step-war-domestic-violence-boon-nosy-neighbours.html#ixzz3KaFJplZU
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Laura Lyons, 29, created website Are They Safe, which runs comprehensive searches on people, after she found out her husband had a history of violence against previous par

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2854416/Set-web-spy-partner-just-200-new-website-positive-step-war-domestic-violence-boon-nosy-neighbours.html#ixzz3KaFTzij6
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A woman who was unaware her new husband had a history of violence against previous partners has set up a website offering £200 background checks to try to stop others suffering a similar fate.

The website, called ‘Are They Safe’, is thought to be the first of its kind, with its founders offering to undertake comprehensive searches of public records to verify someone’s identity, marital history, finances, and uncover any criminal convictions.

Anyone worried about a prospective or current partner, a potential son or daughter-in-law or a business partner, can pay a fee and be supplied with a report of the kind usually compiled by private detectives at much greater cost.

But there have been warnings that the new site goes much further than the ‘Clare’s Law’ checks for domestic violence currently available to police, and could be used by people embarking on anonymous ‘fishing expeditions’ to uncover information that could be used maliciously. 

AreTheySafe.co.uk has been created by Devon businesswoman Laura Lyons, 29, together with experienced investigators and private security specialists.

Ms Lyons had been the victim of violent domestic abuse at the hands of her husband, Farouk Ali, before she left him last year. When she married Ali, Ms Lyons was unaware he had abused previous partners and had two assault convictions.

And in September, he pleaded guilty to bigamy, saying he had another wife in Bangladesh.

‘If something like this service had been available to me, I would have avoided years of violence and misery,’ Ms Lyons said.

But Professor Liz Kelly of London Metropolitan University, an expert in the field of domestic violence, said the numbers of women who would be helped might be limited.

She said: ‘If you’ve fallen for someone, you may not want to check them out at an early stage. I’m not convinced enough people will use it for it to be truly preventative.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2854416/Set-web-spy-partner-just-200-new-website-positive-step-war-domestic-violence-boon-nosy-neighbours.html#ixzz3KaFRZbmV
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