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

East and Mid Devon review

CSP: East and Mid Devon Published: July 2023 Year of death: 2012 Extracted: 10 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 agency errors in responding to the perpetrator's prior domestic abuse, including inappropriate cautioning and inadequate social work assessments. It highlights issues with inter-agency information sharing, risk assessment, and the need for better support and awareness for parents of adult substance misusers and abusers.

Extracted recommendations

10 recommendations pulled from the report

#	Recommendation	Addressed to
R1	Ensure that the use of cautioning across the Force in domestic abuse cases is in line with national guidance and local benchmarks.	Devon & Cornwall Police
R10	(National – Public Health England) Encourage Public Health England to work with Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous, though their national bodes, to review their Safeguarding processes and protocols to assist in responding to serious incidents involving anyone attending one of their groups.	Public Health England
R2	Ensure that social workers retrieve paper based records, where available, as well as electronic records of historic contact with families when assessing current cases.	Devon County Council
R3	Ensure social workers assessing the risk to children understand the impact of domestic abuse, recognising the harm to children from witnessing it and the heightened risk after the perpetrator has left the family home.	Devon County Council
R4	Encourage agencies working with domestic abuse victims to be alert to evidence of perpetrators having more than one victim.	Safer Devon Partnership
R5	Provide guidance to clinicians and other frontline staff on how to respond to disclosure of past abuse, including adults disclosing abuse in childhood, and on how to point such survivors to appropriate support.	Safer Devon Partnership
R6	Ensure effective communication to all front line professionals of what services addressing alcohol misuse, drug misuse and domestic abuse are available, and of how to refer or signpost clients to them.	Safer Devon Partnership
R7	Encourage learning by professional staff and their supervisors through an appreciative enquiry approach wherever possible.	Safer Devon Partnership
R8	Safer Devon Partnership to consider abuse of parents by adult children among the themes for periodic domestic abuse awareness raising campaigns.	Safer Devon Partnership
R9	Make information about support groups for families of substance misusers more widely available, recognising that not all will be in contact with treatment services.	Safer Devon Partnership
Recommendations extracted from the published report. Source: Home Office DHR Library. View full report ↗