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: Wirral
Published: September 2023
Year of death: 2012
Extracted: 4 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
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.
Extracted recommendations
| # | Recommendation | Addressed to |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 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. | Liverpool Law Society | CAFCASS | Family Safety Unit | Merseyside Police |
| 2 | 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. | Merseyside Police | Community Safety Partnership |
| 3 | 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. | Merseyside Police |
| 4 | 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. | Merseyside Police |
| Recommendations extracted from the published report. Source: Home Office DHR Library. View full report ↗ | ||