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

Colchester review

CSP: Colchester Published: September 2024 Year of death: 2021 Extracted: 7 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 issues with police categorisation and risk assessment in domestic abuse incidents, particularly when victim/perpetrator roles are unclear. It also noted challenges in inter-agency information sharing regarding mental health and the potential impact of pandemic-related isolation.

Extracted recommendations

7 recommendations pulled from the report

#	Recommendation	Addressed to
Recommendation Five	Consideration should be given to the option of developing an assessment process, to assist front line officers in assessing the dynamics of abuse, who is the primary perpetrator and the presenting risks. This would require wide consultation given that DASH is used nationally by police forces and accredited by the National Police Chiefs Council.	Essex Police
Recommendation Four	The use of the THRIVE assessment model should form part of future CPD for control room Call takers and Dispatchers, to assist them in completing the assessment process, including identifying the precise nature of the Threat, Harm and Risk and enabling them to utilise THRIVE to determine the incident Header and the incident response priority grading.	Essex Police
Recommendation One	Essex Police should review its current Policy and procedure relating to the completion of DASH risk identification assessment process in cases where it is unclear who is the suspect and who is the victim and where it is also unclear that any criminal offence has taken place. The benefits of completing DASH assessments with both parties involved in order to holistically assess and understand risk should be considered.	Essex Police
Recommendation Seven	Primary Care should consider how to ensure that screening for domestic abuse and safety assessments are carried out as standard practice when patients present with Mental Health issues and when mental health reviews are completed as standard.	NHS Primary Care
Recommendation Six	A review into NHS systems and the functionality of information sharing needs to be undertaken. How to transfer medical notes between G.P. practice’s to ensure crucial medical information isn’t lost should be considered.	NHS
Recommendation Three	Learning from this IMR should be shared and debriefed by a manager within control room staff who were involved in Call Taking, Dispatch and Supervision in relation to STORM incident EP-20201212-0100.	Essex Police
Recommendation Two	Essex Police should review its current working practice of recording those involved in non-crime DA incidents as either the ‘Victim’ or the ‘Suspect’. The review should consider whether in cases where no offences are identified, the use of the Athena classification ‘Involved Party’ for both parties, would be more appropriate.	Essex Police
Recommendations extracted from the published report. Source: Home Office DHR Library. View full report ↗