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

Kent review

CSP: Kent Published: April 2023 Year of death: 2013 Extracted: 16 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 report identifies inconsistent police response and victim care, inadequate information sharing between agencies, and insufficient attention to child safeguarding in domestic abuse cases, particularly regarding risk assessment and follow-up.

Extracted recommendations

16 recommendations pulled from the report

#	Recommendation	Addressed to
1	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
10	When KSCS staff speak to a child’s parent(s) about domestic abuse and the parents have separated, they should query child access arrangements.	KSCS
11	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.	NHS England
12	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.	Kent Police \| KSCS
13	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 Police
14	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.	KCJB
15	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.	DCA
16	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.	All Organisations
2	Kent Police must ensure that importance of keeping domestic abuse victims informed of police action is seen as a priority.	Kent Police
3	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
4	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.	Kent Police
5	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.	Kent Police
6	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.	KSCS
7	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.	Kent Police \| KSCS
8	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.	KSCS
9	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.	KSCS
Recommendations extracted from the published report. Source: Home Office DHR Library. View full report ↗