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
St Helens review
CSP: St Helens
Published: September 2023
Year of death: 2020
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 review identified systemic failures in multi-agency risk management, particularly regarding the intersection of domestic abuse, substance misuse, homelessness, and trauma. There was a lack of adequate mental health support, suicide prevention planning, and coordinated interventions, compounded by insufficient resources and missed opportunities during the perpetrator's custody.
Extracted recommendations
| # | Recommendation | Addressed to |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The MeRIT risk assessment tool has been amended to include questions regarding suicidality and self-harm being asked of the victim. | Merseyside Police | St Helens Community Safety Partnership |
| 1 | The existing practice of prohibiting domestic abuse interventions from being offered to victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse whilst on remand in H. M. Prison be changed and such interventions be encouraged. | Ministry of Justice |
| 10 | Accommodation provision be reviewed and relevant changes to current practice made to ensure that victims and perpetrators are able to be accommodated separately at the earliest opportunity. | St Helens Community Safety Partnership |
| 11 | The impact of temporary/short term funded posts be evaluated and sustainable funding be secured as part of a co-ordinated approach to domestic abuse and suicide prevention across St Helens. | St Helens Community Safety Partnership | Peoples Board |
| 12 | Ensure that the contents of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 are the subject of a joint agency training program across all agencies in St Helens. | St Helens Community Safety Partnership |
| 13 | MeRIT and domestic abuse referral pathways training be included as a mandatory training requirement for all front-line staff by all agencies. | St Helens Community Safety Partnership |
| 2 | Funding has been secured to appoint a Complex Needs IDVA in St Helens via CGL. | St Helens Community Safety Partnership | CGL |
| 2 | Preventative interventions aimed at reducing levels of domestic abuse are shown to have been considered in every case where a victim or perpetrator of domestic abuse is in prison or being supervised within the community. | HMPPS |
| 3 | Following a refresher training course for all Adult Safeguarding staff the Merit/ MARAC training has now been made mandatory for all new staff joining Safeguarding Services and this commitment has been included within the revised Domestic Abuse Strategy for St Helens. | St Helens MBC Adult Safeguarding | St Helens Community Safety Partnership |
| 3 | Provide all domestic abuse victims with advanced notice of the perpetrators release from prison after sentences of less than twelve months. | HMPPS | Probation Service | Merseyside Community Rehabilitation Company |
| 4 | A program of proactive intervention be developed, implemented and coordinated by MARAC aimed at providing increased safety for victims and their families when a perpetrator is placed on remand or sentenced to a term of imprisonment for domestic abuse related offending and prior to their release. | St Helens Community Safety Partnership | Chair of MARAC |
| 5 | Incorporate the issue of domestic abuse as a suicide risk factor, in any future regional or local Suicide Prevention Strategy Action Plan, with the aim of reducing the number of domestic abuse victims who take their own lives. | Merseyside Police | St Helens Public Health |
| 6 | The profile of the suicide prevention strategy be raised in St Helens along with clear direction to individuals and agencies regarding the strategies expectations for safety planning and risk management and what tools are required to be used by all services within the partnership. | St Helens Public Health |
| 7 | Funding be secured to appoint more Complex Needs IDVA’s in St Helens | St Helens Community Safety Partnership |
| 8 | Embed a trauma informed approach into all training and that training to be co-ordinated and delivered across all relevant partnerships and agencies in St Helens. | St Helens Community Safety Partnership |
| 9 | Training be delivered to accommodation/hostel providers so that they understand their responsibility to safeguard individuals in their accommodation who are experiencing domestic abuse. | St Helens Community Safety Partnership |
| Recommendations extracted from the published report. Source: Home Office DHR Library. View full report ↗ | ||