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
Wirral review
CSP: WirralPublished: September 2023Year of death: 2012Extracted: 4 recs
Statutory domestic homicide review under section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. Source: Home Office DHR Library.
Merseyside Police failed to follow domestic abuse policy, missing opportunities for risk assessment, information gathering, and referrals for the victim. The report also highlights that separation can magnify risk and that emotional/verbal abuse needs greater recognition.
Home Office classifications
29 tags
Source-supplied classifications used by the Home Office to catalogue this review.
Victim - had been a victim of an abuser before
Children - under 18 shared parental responsibility (victim and perpetrator)
Children - under 18 shared parental responsibility (between victims)
Children - under 18 shared parental responsibility (between perpetrators)
Children - living with victim (including adult children)
Children - living with perpetrator (including adult children)
Child - primary address same as victim
Perpetrator - case heard in court
Perpetrator - issued life sentence
Perpetrator - alcohol misuse
Perpetrator - known to agencies as a domestic abuse perpetrator
Perpetrator - known to police as a domestic abuse perpetrator
Perpetrator - known to others as a domestic abuse perpetrator
Perpetrator - known to family as a domestic abuse perpetrator
Aggravating factors - separation
Aggravating factors - psychological or emotional abuse
Aggravating factors - physical abuse
DHR process - family contributed to dhr
DHR process - police recommendations
DHR process - idva or other domestic abuse support service recommendations
DHR process - other educational institution recommendations
DHR process - community safety partnership recommendations
DHR process - identification of risk recommendation themes
DHR process - training recommendation themes
DHR process - policy recommendation themes
DHR process - multi agency working recommendation themes
DHR process - record keeping recommendation themes
DHR process - awareness raising recommendation themes
DHR process - other recommendation themes
Extracted recommendations
4 recommendations pulled from the report · 4 matched to organisations in the index
Addressed to
Liverpool Law Society | CAFCASS | Family Safety Unit | Merseyside Police
Separation should be seen as process which can magnify risk factors, not a safety plan in itself. All agencies, especially family law solicitors and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) , should be advised that the period around separation- especially while a couple still share a home- should be seen as a period of enhanced risk of violence, and should advise service users accordingly.
Addressed to
Merseyside Police | Community Safety Partnership
All Police reception areas in Wirral should be checked to ensure that they have very clear, very visible and up-to-date information on domestic abuse services displayed prominently. Strong consideration of the use of keywords such as ‘verbal abuse’ and ‘bullying in relationship’ should be given in the development of new materials to prompt referrals by and about people who may not consider themselves victims of domestic abuse per se.
An audit of Merseyside Police’s compliance with its own domestic abuse policy and procedures should be undertaken in the Wirral in January 2013 to ensure that front line staff are compliant and that VPRF1s are being completed. An audit should be undertaken of the new Inspector reviews of memo books, to ensure that domestic abuse incidents are not being retained on paper-based records.
Consider the revision of the VPRF1 to give an immediate and clearly visible score for risk, so that front line staff feel ownership of the risk level, rather than it being left to a specialist team for assessment.