Mel B on reporting domestic abuse: I don’t know if I can trust the police

Mel B, one of the Spice Girls, told BBC Newsnight she does not trust police on domestic abuse issues (Robert Timothy/ BBC)

Singer Mel B has said she would not report domestic abuse as she does not know if she can “trust the police”.

The 47-year-old member of girl group Spice Girls, who is a patron of Women’s Aid and campaigns with the charity on domestic abuse issues, urged the British Government to reform “the whole entire system” of justice.

She has previously spoken about being in an abusive relationship, which she claims left her without access to money or a support network.

Former Spice Girl Melanie Brown (centre) arrives at the Conservative Party annual conference in Birmingham in October (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Mel B, whose real name is Melanie Brown, told BBC Newsnight that officers need education on the “tell-tale signs” that someone is in an abusive relationship.

She said: “I wouldn’t (call the police), because I wouldn’t know if they would take it seriously.”

She added: “Like, if I’m living here and I want to report it to the police, I don’t know if I can trust the police. I don’t know if they’re going to take my allegations seriously.”

She also said: “It’s just your average person who just wants to be loved and cared for.”

The singer added that “younger and younger” people are experiencing domestic abuse including “kids as soon as they start some kind of intimate relationship”.

In her interview with broadcaster Victoria Derbyshire, she also called the issue an “epidemic” and said that the work of statisticians allowed victims to “openly talk”.

The Newsnight interview with Mel B is on BBC Two as part of the programme which starts at 10.30pm.