About this page. This page summarises a Domestic Homicide Review published in the Home Office DHR Library. The full report is available at the source link below. Victim and perpetrator names are not included in extracted summaries on this page.
Source · Domestic Homicide Review
Liverpool review
CSP: Liverpool
Published: April 2023
Year of death: 2011
Extracted: 18 recs
Statutory domestic homicide review under section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. Source: Home Office DHR Library.
View full report (PDF) ↗
Source: Home Office DHR Library
Summary
The review identified that services were unaware of the short-term abusive relationship, and the victim and family were reluctant to report abuse. Key issues included inadequate information sharing between health services, insufficient risk assessment for vulnerable individuals with substance misuse, and a reliance on self-disclosure.
Extracted recommendations
| # | Recommendation | Addressed to |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | That the Community Safety Partnership review current information strategies to ensure that information about the type of behaviours that constitute domestic abuse is explicitly described and includes ensuring that friends and family of victims (and of perpetrators) are encouraged to report concerns. | Community Safety Partnership |
| 2 | The Community Safety Partnership should ensure that a copy of the overview report is provided to the chair of the Liverpool Safeguarding Children Board and Liverpool Safeguarding Adults Board drawing particular attention to the issues in relation to risk assessment arising from lifestyle during pregnancy. | Community Safety Partnership |
| 3 | The Community Safety Partnership should consider whether sufficient data and information is collated in regard to the extent of alcohol related domestic abuse. | Community Safety Partnership |
| 4 | The Community Safety Partnership should consider whether practitioners working in substance misuse services have sufficient information and professional support to identify and respond to evidence of domestic abuse. | Community Safety Partnership |
| 5 | The Community Safety Partnership should consider whether any further action is required to improve the capacity of future statutory reviews. | Community Safety Partnership |
| A1.1 | Continue to implement Trust Domestic Abuse Training Plan; | St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust |
| A1.2 | Emergency Department to review process for communicating with GPs particularly around patients who leave the department before their treatment has been concluded. | St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust |
| A1.3 | The Trust to work towards extending the funding of the Mental Health Liaison Service ideally on a recurring basis; | St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust |
| A1.4 | The Trust to work towards extending the funding of the Alcohol Liaison Service ideally on a recurring basis; | St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust |
| A1.5 | The links between alcohol, mental health, domestic abuse (the toxic trio) and safeguarding to be further emphasised within the Emergency Department; | St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust |
| A2.1 | Start identifying cases of domestic abuse where the victim doesn’t make a complaint specifically about domestic abuse but is known through other complaints and where appropriate signpost to relevant support agencies or refer to MARAC without consent on professional judgement should the incident meet MARAC’s threshold. | South Liverpool Homes |
| A2.2 | Produce a training matrix to ensure annual awareness sessions are being completed and incorporate domestic abuse procedures into induction for new employees. | South Liverpool Homes |
| A2.3 | Approach local Mental Health Services and commissioning bodies to identify a process of joint working to support both South Liverpool Homes officers and Mental Health Services with clients in the Speke and Garston housing estates. | South Liverpool Homes |
| A2.4 | Establish more effective working relationships with Liverpool Probation Service to support South Liverpool Homes approach to perpetrators of domestic abuse. | South Liverpool Homes |
| A3.1 | The Merseyside Police Domestic Abuse Policy is reinforced to officers across the force, and that supervisors responsible for quality assuring domestic abuse crime investigations (Investigation Managers and D/Sgts within FCIUs) are asked particularly to check that these elements of Domestic Abuse Policy are adhered to when authorising the closure of domestic abuse files. | Merseyside Police |
| A3.2 | ‘Where there is sufficient evidence, the alleged offender should normally be arrested. This is particularly the case where there is clear evidence of injury and/or physical damage. Similar action should be taken where anyone (adult or child) within the household is displaying signs of alarm, fear or distress, or if there is evidence of repeat victimisation. (Merseyside Police Domestic Abuse policy and procedure section 4.10.1). | Merseyside Police |
| A3.3 | Merseyside Police policy stipulates ‘It is the decision of the police officer whether or not to arrest: therefore the victim should not be asked whether they require an arrest to be made. Efforts should be focused on gathering alternative evidence in order to charge and build a prosecution case, rather than rely entirely on the victim’s willingness | Merseyside Police |
| A3.4 | Merseyside Police supervisors responsible for quality assuring domestic abuse crime investigations (Investigation Managers and D/Sgts within FCIUs) are to particularly check that these elements of domestic abuse policy are adhered to when authorising the closure of domestic abuse files. | Merseyside Police |
| Recommendations extracted from the published report. Source: Home Office DHR Library. View full report ↗ | ||