In a first for England and Wales, a man who abused two former partners must inform police when he gets a new girlfriend.
Under a seven-year behaviour order, Kylle Godfrey must disclose any relationship longer than 14 days and police can tell any new partners about his previous violent behaviour under their domestic violence disclosure scheme.
The London man is currently serving a three-year prison sentence for attacks that lasted several days in October last year, including throttling one victim and banging her head on the floor, causing trauma injuries to her head.
He was sentenced for two counts of actual bodily harm and perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation, as he intimidated the first victim while on bail and assaulted a second woman he was in a relationship with, the court heard.
“This order gives us a new way of protecting victims of domestic abuse and prevents other women from suffering at the hands of people like Godfrey, and helps our efforts to tackle domestic violence,” Detective Inspector Jane Topping said.
“The victim in Godfrey’s case was subjected to a horrendous ordeal by him following a sustained campaign of domestic violence. She has shown incredible bravery in supporting our investigation, and I hope she feels safer now Godfrey is behind bars and will be subject to closer scrutiny.”
With one in six Australian women having experienced at least one incidence of violence from a partner since the age of 15, injunctions such as this have the potential to reduce rates of domestic violence in Australia.
Last year, Australian of the Year David Morrison expressed concerns at a reliance on statistics rather than action.
“Let me tell you, there are people dying and people whose lives are absolutely ruined as a result of domestic violence and, what’s more, we are all, as a society, the victim,” he said.
