June 24, 2025

74-Breaking the Silence: Clare's Law and Terri's Fight: Angela Smith; Part 2

74-Breaking the Silence: Clare's Law and Terri's Fight: Angela Smith; Part 2

When tragedy strikes, some people find themselves transformed into reluctant warriors. After losing her daughter Terri and grandchildren to domestic violence, Angie Smith became exactly that—channeling unimaginable grief into life-saving advocacy work that's reshaping how we protect vulnerable people.

The heart of this powerful conversation explores Clare's Law, a domestic violence disclosure scheme that allows individuals to check if their partner has a history of abuse. But as Angie discovered through personal experience, the original law had a critical flaw. When someone is already trapped in an abusive relationship, they're unlikely to seek this information themselves, and even if they do, they might not believe it or might have the information intercepted by their abuser. This realization sparked Angie's mission to create "Terri's Law"—an amendment allowing concerned family members to request disclosure about a relative's partner.

Despite resistance from officials who insisted the existing system worked fine, Angie persisted. She gathered evidence, built coalitions, and eventually secured the amendment's passage in 2023. Now she regularly hears from people who have successfully used Terri's Law to protect loved ones from potential harm. Beyond legislative change, Angie runs Terri's Fight, sending essential care bags to women who've fled abusive situations with nothing but the clothes on their backs. She personally operates a helpline, connecting survivors with life-saving resources.

The statistics remain staggering—three women die weekly from domestic violence in the UK alone. Most never receive media attention. Through her grief, Angie reminds us that these aren't just statistics but real families like hers, and that early intervention can prevent devastation. If you're concerned about someone's relationship or experiencing abuse yourself, reach out for help. The resources Angie fought to strengthen could save your life or the life of someone you love.

View Angie's 1in3 profile here: https://www.1in3podcast.com/guests/angela-smith/

1 in 3 is intended for mature audiences. Episodes contain explicit content and may be triggering to some.

Support the show

If you are in the United States and need help right now, call the national domestic violence hotline at 800-799-7233 or text the word “start” to 88788.

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Thank you for listening and please remember to rate, review & subscribe!

Cover art by Laura Swift Dahlke
Music by Tim Crowe

00:00 - Welcome and introduction to Angie's story

01:42 - Understanding Claire's Law and its limitations

04:23 - Signs of abuse and isolation tactics

07:39 - Fighting for Terry's Law amendment

11:02 - The tragedy of system failures

14:04 - Terry's Fight: Supporting domestic violence survivors

20:13 - Closing words and resources for help

WEBVTT

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Hi Warriors, welcome to One in Three.

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I'm your host, ingrid.

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Last week, angie Smith bravely shared the heartbreaking events that led her to become the powerful advocate she is today.

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In this episode we take a deeper dive into Claire's law, what it is, why it matters and how Angie worked to strengthen it.

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She also opens up about the continued support she offers to domestic violence survivors and the tireless advocacy work she carries on every single day.

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Angie, last week you told a terribly tragic and sad and infuriating story of your daughter and your grandchildren, and you had mentioned Claire's Law in that episode.

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So today let's get into what Claire's Law is and then what you've been doing with that since.

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Yeah, I'd seen a program on the TV at the time before my daughter was killed, before my daughter was killed, and it was Michael Wood.

00:01:03.726 --> 00:01:09.811
He was Claire Wood's father and he bought this.

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It's a disclosure scheme and he went through Parliament and he got the bill and it was called Claire's Law so people could, if they was concerned about bringing a new partner into their lives, children's lives, that you could go on this disclosure scheme.

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It's the right to ask and the right to know and you put all the details in and that will come back if there was any previous conviction of domestic violence, of domestic violence.

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I'd seen a programme about it when Terry first met him and I downloaded the form, but then, when I started to fill it out, realised the information would go to my daughter.

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And so after my daughter was killed, I thought of thinking about Claire's Law and thinking you know we're not saying you know anyone could put in for Claire's Law, and thinking you know we're not saying you know anyone could put in for Claire's Law and get disclosure on anybody, but someone who was like a really close family member, a mum, a sister.

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And so we decided to change that little bit of Claire's Law to say that if someone was concerned, as I said for a mum sister that they could put into this and they'd get the information, so they'd at least talk to their daughter to say you know, this is what I found out on this person and we did.

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We campaigned, we got signatures, we had meetings in the government, the UK government, as is a parliament, and yeah, I'm pleased to say 2023, yeah, we got that changed.

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So that was amazing to be able to do that and it's starting to work really well for some people now, which I don't think it was doing in the.

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You know, then, I think that's really important because a lot of times when individuals are in these relationships and you know I can speak from experience of being somebody that was in a relationship like that you don't want to believe that the person that you love is a bad person, and you may be hearing good advice from everyone around you, but you're not going to believe it yourself.

00:03:30.889 --> 00:03:36.612
So I think that is such an important piece is for those who are concerned.

00:03:36.693 --> 00:03:40.126
Yeah, he was turning around on us.

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He just kept saying, well, they don't like me.

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So you know they're not, and I think that's how she was becoming to think.

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You know, she would dress indifferently.

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She was quite.

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I'd say what we call in this I don't know what you call it, maybe it's the same thing, it's a tomboy, which means she dressed quite.

00:04:01.068 --> 00:04:16.925
She used to like tracksuit trainers and she was very, very, very thin little girl and but when she went dim, there was all sorts of different shorts, low cut tops, and it was wow, what has happened to you?

00:04:16.925 --> 00:04:17.326
You know?

00:04:17.326 --> 00:04:24.485
Um, so there was so many things that he was changing about her and she didn't even realize it.

00:04:30.540 --> 00:04:40.831
And and that happens too you don't realize that you're making these changes because you're just so engrossed in the relationship, and it's you mentioned a lot of things that you noticed, which is really key, because sometimes family members don't notice those things either.

00:04:40.831 --> 00:04:55.887
So you realized that she wasn't communicating as much as she used to her change in clothes and just becoming a different person, and those are definitely signs that somebody could potentially be in an abusive relationship.

00:04:56.206 --> 00:04:56.949
Yeah, definitely.

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And when she used to come to my house with him, he would never let her go into a room on her own with me, him, he would never let her go into a room on her own with me.

00:05:09.625 --> 00:05:10.327
He would follow her.

00:05:10.327 --> 00:05:24.346
Every time she she moved into another room with me, he'd come into that room because obviously he didn't want her telling me anything right and then isolating her and making her feel she then couldn't talk to you about anything either.

00:05:31.803 --> 00:05:37.079
Were you met with any resistance when you were trying to get Terry's Law passed.

00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:47.103
We had a meeting at one point with the local government and she kept saying oh yeah, claire's law works, it works.

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And we were saying it doesn't.

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Sometimes it doesn't.

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We need it to go to other family members because that person, you know, if they do it at all, they're not going to believe it.

00:06:02.793 --> 00:06:05.415
They're not going to do that.

00:06:05.415 --> 00:06:19.048
If you're in an abusive relationship, really nine times out of ten you're not going to do that, and so it needs to be like a family member that can do it and at least try to tell them.

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You know, this is what's happened and they were saying, oh, it does work.

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And we said we haven't.

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We got 10 actual people to do it and it was different age groups and they got nothing.

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No one got anything from it.

00:06:36.500 --> 00:06:44.865
But as soon as we got that tweaked and it has now started to work on our website that are currently run.

00:06:44.865 --> 00:06:52.208
You know I'm getting people going we've put in for Claire's Law and it's actually coming back and so that's got to be yeah.

00:06:52.208 --> 00:06:54.853
That really humbles me and makes me think.

00:06:54.853 --> 00:07:03.035
You know, I mean because when I started out this, I just thought if I could help one person, if I could save one person.

00:07:03.035 --> 00:07:11.747
But you know, I know through my website that I've saved far more than that, so that's only got to be a win-win now.

00:07:12.889 --> 00:07:21.314
Absolutely, and I understand how they were saying Claire's Law helps because they do have you know, have numbers of the individuals that it helps.

00:07:21.314 --> 00:07:39.923
But, like you said, there's that piece that's missing and when you're in the relationship you're not going to necessarily ask if there's anything and then, even if you got that information, you're going to excuse it away of like well, that person brought out the worst in my partner and I'm not bringing out the worst in my partner.

00:07:39.923 --> 00:07:43.507
You also brought up a very important piece of.

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He was living there and so if it came in the mail there was a very high likelihood of him.

00:07:52.620 --> 00:07:54.783
Yeah, yeah, and I just didn't want to.

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I mean, no, not that we knew of that.

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He had convictions for any other thing.

00:08:01.615 --> 00:08:10.740
I mean, obviously he was on probation and they had.

00:08:10.740 --> 00:08:26.949
Actually there was a lot of failings because he'd had convictions that were locked away in what they call a meta and no one had told my daughter he had a domestic violence Mm-hmm, he had a concern for underage children.

00:08:26.949 --> 00:08:29.987
That was never told to him, terry Never.

00:08:31.161 --> 00:08:33.708
Wasn't that part of Claire's Law too, is that?

00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:35.866
No, it's totally different.

00:08:35.966 --> 00:08:36.327
Okay.

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It's the National Probation Service.

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They keep a check on.

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Someone's got a criminal record.

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He was going.

00:08:46.764 --> 00:08:50.315
He was going there every week and they knew this.

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They knew they had a domestic violence thing.

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They knew he had a concern for underage girls under the age of 16.

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And no one ever told my daughter that that was kept locked away.

00:09:04.046 --> 00:09:08.621
She was never given the chance to even say no.

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You know, I need to get rid of this person.

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Never even given the chance.

00:09:15.489 --> 00:09:39.628
Right, and I've read books and I've done some research on things and there are different things called danger assessments to where professionals can review an individual to assess their risk of, you know, harm or even murder, and I mean a history of domestic violence and the things that he was doing.

00:09:39.668 --> 00:09:52.893
He would have been placed at a he was placed a medium risk to the public when he should have been an high risk to the public, women and children.

00:09:54.783 --> 00:09:56.409
Yeah, how did they think it was medium?

00:09:58.399 --> 00:09:59.802
Someone didn't do their job properly.

00:09:59.802 --> 00:10:10.385
You know, for one person that just didn't do their job properly, they could have saved her.

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You know, they'd all still be here now.

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And that is you.

00:10:20.461 --> 00:10:22.746
Just, you can't comprehend that.

00:10:22.746 --> 00:10:24.412
You cannot even go to put my head around that.

00:10:25.061 --> 00:10:42.721
Uh, just, if that had happened, um, yeah, they'd have all still been here I mean I I imagine that would be a very difficult thing to keep yourself from doing is going down all these avenues of what if, or only if definitely, yeah, yeah, definitely.

00:10:43.724 --> 00:10:45.366
You know what if I didn't put in the?

00:10:45.366 --> 00:10:49.594
What if I'd had put in the clears law?

00:10:49.594 --> 00:10:53.967
I would have known and, and and it's just like that's it.

00:10:53.967 --> 00:10:54.708
You.

00:10:54.708 --> 00:10:57.234
You second guess yourself all the time.

00:10:57.234 --> 00:11:01.350
You know what if I'd have done this, what if I'd have done this, what if I'd have done that?

00:11:01.350 --> 00:11:07.748
But at the end of the day, no one could know or even think that someone were capable of that.

00:11:07.748 --> 00:11:09.051
Nobody.

00:11:09.852 --> 00:11:26.705
No, and I've mentioned this before too is you know, when you hear something like this, you couldn't even submit it to you know a movie director, because it just it seems so unfathomable that another human would do this to you.

00:11:26.705 --> 00:11:27.125
Know it?

00:11:27.125 --> 00:11:32.360
Just it, yeah, it doesn't seem like it could be real no, it doesn't seem real.

00:11:32.461 --> 00:11:37.528
I mean, you know, as I said this, this september it'd be four years.

00:11:37.528 --> 00:11:46.830
You know we've had to do a lot of things that we At the time we couldn't make them decisions, but we had to.

00:11:46.830 --> 00:12:00.065
You know, I couldn't even get my daughter laid to rest because press were going round looking for my daughter's grave, take pictures of it.

00:12:00.065 --> 00:12:04.110
So I've only just now got a load to rest.

00:12:04.110 --> 00:12:08.727
You know, there were so many things.

00:12:08.727 --> 00:12:28.908
You know we had a funeral and it was there were TV cameras there At one time when we just needed to be able to grieve, we couldn't because you had a TV camera shoved in your face and that was it.

00:12:28.908 --> 00:12:36.432
You know the whole of her funeral went viral and and it was like what you know.

00:12:38.186 --> 00:12:43.238
You know, our actual funeral we had a police escort.

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You know I can remember sitting in the car on the day and thinking we're just a normal family.

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We're not, you know, we're just an average normal family.

00:12:56.716 --> 00:12:59.432
My daughter had never been in trouble with the police.

00:12:59.432 --> 00:13:01.431
She wasn't a drug taker.

00:13:01.431 --> 00:13:07.857
And when we were in the car that day at a funeral, we're like what?

00:13:07.857 --> 00:13:09.892
I don't understand any of this.

00:13:09.892 --> 00:13:12.485
This is not my world at all.

00:13:12.485 --> 00:13:17.496
So doing all these things that I've done since, I mean, I couldn't even work.

00:13:17.496 --> 00:13:26.616
I couldn't work my phone half the time and I used to actually message my grandson and go, how do I do this?

00:13:26.616 --> 00:13:33.118
So you know, this is massive leaps and bounds for me to be able to do all these things, now that I do.

00:13:34.466 --> 00:13:36.173
Okay, so let's talk more about that.

00:13:36.173 --> 00:13:42.158
So you got Terry's Law passed and then you have a website, you have social media, and what do you do with those?

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It's called Terry's Fight.

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Yeah, we started it literally, I think, about a year after she died.

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You know I needed I said to her and because I couldn't do all the social media side, I literally said to one of our friends, you know, I want to keep their name going.

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They should still be here and I want to help other people.

00:14:09.884 --> 00:14:17.726
I didn't know exactly how I was going to do it and so they set up the website for me and I do.

00:14:18.307 --> 00:14:23.938
I send bags out for people that have fled domestic violence.

00:14:23.938 --> 00:14:30.249
You know, because some of these women they come out and they have nothing behind the clothes they stand up with.

00:14:30.249 --> 00:14:34.437
Our bags consist of toiletries.

00:14:34.437 --> 00:14:45.335
We put a little hug in them that's called a hug, which is a little bear that throws his arms open, which my auntie makes.

00:14:45.335 --> 00:14:55.244
Yeah, we put all those things into a bag airbrush, notebook pen and so we've been sending those out to refugees.

00:14:58.052 --> 00:14:59.056
I think I've done over.

00:14:59.056 --> 00:15:04.577
That's got to be 290, something now which is shocking.

00:15:04.577 --> 00:15:05.687
It is shocking.

00:15:05.687 --> 00:15:06.769
I mean we lose.

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In the UK alone we lose three women every year to domestic, every week to domestic violence.

00:15:14.408 --> 00:15:21.399
You know our British government have said it's an epidemic here.

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Ask the people you don't hear of that lose their lives because like my daughter, unfortunately, was the exception she got killed of her children.

00:15:33.350 --> 00:15:41.451
Most of these women just die at the hands of her partner, ex-partner, and they don't even get a mention.

00:15:41.451 --> 00:15:47.615
So, yeah, I will carry on doing what I do.

00:15:47.615 --> 00:15:54.097
Now we have a care line so that if anyone is in really immediate danger can ring it.

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I'm the only person that mans the care line, which a lot of people find unbelievable about doing, and I talk to women just that are in my sort of situation.

00:16:05.654 --> 00:16:16.874
I was in then and I give them numbers for refugees, other information they need or just to talk to them if they need someone to talk to.

00:16:16.874 --> 00:16:20.471
So, yeah, we have a lot of things going on.

00:16:20.994 --> 00:16:21.897
That's amazing.

00:16:21.897 --> 00:16:24.433
I don't know how you find all the time for that.

00:16:24.433 --> 00:16:34.535
Do you mind sharing how, if somebody wants to look into some of this information how they would like the website or anything like that?

00:16:34.904 --> 00:16:44.491
Yeah, it's just a Facebook website and if you tap into your bot and your facebook, terry's fight, that will come up um.

00:16:44.491 --> 00:16:46.976
Then you can join our website.

00:16:46.976 --> 00:16:48.905
You can see what we do um.

00:16:48.905 --> 00:17:01.696
Also, if you need any more information, you know in the uk, um, we can give you some of the refugees number and if you are in you know, a really dangerous situation, they can give you some of the refugees number, and if you are in you know a really dangerous situation, they can help you get out of that.

00:17:03.265 --> 00:17:16.795
And I follow your Facebook page and it's nice because you do you post little uplifting things in there too, and information like update news information, and it's it's quite a helpful page.

00:17:16.795 --> 00:17:19.913
In closing, is there anything you can think of?

00:17:20.964 --> 00:17:34.526
Yeah, just if you are in or you think that you are in an abusive relationship, if someone makes you scared or makes you do things that you don't really want to do, just get help.

00:17:34.526 --> 00:17:48.294
Get help because nobody wants to be in my place at the moment, because you know what it does happen and yeah, just just get out.

00:17:48.374 --> 00:17:59.349
Don't, don't even think about it, just go run right, and if you aren't sure, you can always reach out to different advocacy groups and explain what's going on.

00:17:59.529 --> 00:18:00.130
Obviously.

00:18:00.130 --> 00:18:08.718
You know in the UK we have Refuge and you know domestic violence, charities, and I'm sure you've got them in America as well.

00:18:08.718 --> 00:18:13.281
Yes, so yeah, just ask for help?

00:18:14.464 --> 00:18:14.746
Absolutely.

00:18:14.746 --> 00:18:22.058
And then what would you like listeners to remember about Terry John Lacey?

00:18:23.286 --> 00:18:26.673
They were an average family.

00:18:26.673 --> 00:18:28.077
They had big hearts.

00:18:28.077 --> 00:18:35.417
They, you know my grandchildren used to raise money for cancer research.

00:18:35.417 --> 00:18:46.795
They were just a I wouldn't say perfect little family, you know, but they were just a I wouldn't say perfect little family, you know, but they were just this little average family that loved life, loved doing things.

00:18:46.795 --> 00:18:59.550
So, yeah, and she can remember terry, because there's been quite a lot of bad press sometimes with terry saying, you know, she should have known and and she wouldn't have, she wouldn't have put her children at risk.

00:18:59.550 --> 00:19:00.813
No way would she have.

00:19:00.813 --> 00:19:07.240
So they were just a happy little family okay, well, thank you, angie.

00:19:07.300 --> 00:19:13.407
So much for your time, and I know it's difficult telling this over and over again, but I really appreciate it.

00:19:13.407 --> 00:19:23.587
I think it will be extremely helpful for listeners all over the world and then, um, for those in the in the UK that have you as a potential resource as well.

00:19:25.593 --> 00:19:26.213
That's okay.

00:19:26.213 --> 00:19:30.448
If I, as I said, anything I can do to help, I'm happy to do it.

00:19:33.816 --> 00:19:34.356
Thank you again.

00:19:34.356 --> 00:19:35.400
Thank you.

00:19:35.400 --> 00:19:44.413
Thank you, Angie, for joining me today and for all of your tireless work, and thank all of you for listening.

00:19:44.413 --> 00:19:48.684
I've included the link to Angie's 1 in 3 profile in the show notes.

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Please take a look at it, as it includes an Amazon link to help purchase items for the Terry's Fight Bags.

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I will be back next week with another episode for you fight bags.

00:20:02.326 --> 00:20:03.628
I will be back next week with another episode for you.

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Until then, stay strong and wherever you are in your journey, always remember you are not alone.

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