A cross-party letter from the London Assembly has been sent to all 73 London MPs asking for support for a domestic abuse register.

Operating in a similar way to the sex offender register, the London Assembly is seeking a change in legislation to create a register identifying people convicted of domestic abuse.

The Assembly unanimously agreed to a motion in September to seek the change after a man from Hounslow with a history of abusing previous partners, beat his five-year-old stepson to death.

Lilya Breha had no idea that Marvyn Iheanacho had an extensive history of violence, including attacks on five previous partners, before he savagely beat her son in a park over a lost trainer.

City Hall news

Iheanacho of Wesley Avenue, Hounslow was found guilty of murdering the child and sentenced to 18 years in prison in July but had his sentence extended by three years after an appeal by the solicitor general.

No information was disclosed to Ms Breha by police as part of the Right to Know element of Clare's Law.

The Assembly's letter reports that there were almost 150,000 domestic abuse incidents in 2016, with 33,140 incidents in west London alone.

Marvyn Iheanacho's sentence was extended by three years following an appeal by the solicitor general who though the original sentence was too lenient

Len Duvall AM, spokesman for the London Assembly campaign, said: “The fact that all parties on the London Assembly support the call for a Domestic Abusers Register is evidence of the urgency for a change in legislation.

"We can’t let horrific events continue to happen and we can’t let repeat offenders continue to get away with, what is sometimes, murder.

Alex Malcolm was beaten to death in a public park by convicted domestic abuser Marvyn Iheanacho

"We need to support our police officers to be pro-active on domestic violence, as reactive policing is often too late. The onus now needs to be on the offender.

"This is the first time the London Assembly has embarked on a cross-party campaign and I’m proud that we have all written to our London MP’s to seek their backing.

"This issue is above politics and it’s up to government to get cracking on this now – we need legislation to change and we need it to happen fast.”

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