4.3 Newspaper

• How did the Sarah’s Law campaign start?


  Sarah was murdered by an individual with prior convictions for child sexual offences.
• What were SL campaigning for?


  Create a new law to allow disclosure of prior sexual offences to prevent children being at risk.
• What methods did SL use to promote the campaign?


  News of the World ‘named and shamed’ 50 convicted paedophiles and put a petition in their paper which they encouraged people to complete and send in.

  Over 700, 000 people signed this.
• What law did SL change?


  Introduced the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme in England and Wales in 2011.

  Anyone can ask the police if someone in contact with a child has a record of sexual offences.
• How did Pat Gibsons campaign start?


  Michael Gibson was 20 when he was assaulted by David Clark in Darlington town centre in April 1992.

  Michael died after being in a coma for 22 months.

  David Clark could only be charged with GBH.

  He was jailed for 2 years and was free before Michael Died.
• What was Pat campaigning for?


  Pat campaigned to end the ‘year and a day rule’.

  This was a law dating back to 1278 that if assault victims lived for a year and a day their attackers could not be tried for murder or manslaughter.
• What methods did Pat’s campaign use to promote it?

  Pats local newspaper the Northern Echo launched the justice for michael campaign.

  They published a picture of michael in a coma on the front cover and urged readers to sign a petition demanding for the rule to be scrapped.

  Thousands of readers signed the petition and the lcoal MP supported the campaign in parliament.
• What law did Pat change?


  In 1996 a law reform (year and a day rule) act was passed.

  It ended the year and a day rule.