Kent review

Kent Police must examine its initial response to calls made by the victim between 2 November and 7 November and amend policies and guidance in order to ensure that the lessons learned from this review are incorporated.

Kent Police must ensure that importance of keeping domestic abuse victims informed of police action is seen as a priority.

Kent Police must review its domestic abuse policy regularly to ensure that it describes the service that victims can expect. Having done so it must ensure that the policy and associated guidance are complied with.

Kent Police must be open and transparent about the minimum level of service that domestic abuse victims will receive from each of the three DASH risk classifications.

If a victim has previously received a ‘High’ or ‘Medium’ DASH risk classification, Kent Police must ensure there is additional scrutiny of any subsequent ‘Standard’ risk classification to ensure that the history of the abuse has been taken into account when making that classification.

When training staff in how to deal with DANs, KSCS should clarify that being a first notification should not in itself be a reason for taking no further action.

When KSCS staff make contact with adults or children following a DAN, there should be a workable process that enables them to pass back to Kent Police any new information that they gather from the contact which may be relevant to the way Kent Police deal with future incidents involving that victim.

When a decision about child safeguarding is taken, which appears to be contrary to policy and/or guidance, the rationale for the decision must be recorded.

When KSCS staff speak to a child’s parent(s) about domestic abuse they should ask for consent to talk to the child, if the child is old enough to speak for themselves. Where a request is not made, the reason why should be recorded.

When KSCS staff speak to a child’s parent(s) about domestic abuse and the parents have separated, they should query child access arrangements.

NHS England should consider whether there is a need to check the quality of records made by the GP visited by the victim following her overdose.

Kent Police, in consultation with KSCS, should review the domestic abuse child referral matrix to ensure that there are no anomalies and that it provides the right criteria for safeguarding children who are living in households where domestic abuse is taking place.

When training officers and staff in dealing with domestic abuse incidents, Kent Police should emphasise the importance of speaking to children who are old enough to speak for themselves.

Kent Criminal Justice Board (KCJB) should consider whether there is any way in which the facilities available in an SDVC could be provided in cases where the defended appears having been remanded in custody.

The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) should consider whether domestic abuse should be excluded from the general principle of cases being disposed of at first hearing following a guilty plea, when this means that offenders are less likely to appear before SDVCs.

The training given to professionals who come into contact with domestic abuse victims must emphasise that control and behaviour (such as stalking and harassment) suffered by victims, other than through physical violence, must be carefully considered when assessing the risk to domestic abuse victims.