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
Fenland review
CSP: FenlandPublished: September 2024Year of death: 2021Extracted: 5 recs
Statutory domestic homicide review under section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. Source: Home Office DHR Library.
The review highlights failures by agencies to identify the perpetrator's coercive control and stalking behaviour towards the victim, particularly during protracted criminal and family court proceedings. Concerns include inadequate risk assessments, inter-agency communication gaps, and the risks associated with disclosing addresses in child arrangement order cases.
Home Office classifications
27 tags
Source-supplied classifications used by the Home Office to catalogue this review.
Victim - alcohol misuse
Victim - mental ill health
Victim - had been a victim of an abuser before
Children - under 18 shared parental responsibility (between victims)
Children - living with perpetrator (including adult children)
Perpetrator - case heard in court
Perpetrator - issued life sentence
Aggravating factors - separation
Aggravating factors - coercive or controlling behaviour
Aggravating factors - stalking
Aggravating factors - physical stalking
Aggravating factors - digital stalking
Aggravating factors - forced marriage
Aggravating factors - economic abuse
DHR process - family contributed to dhr
DHR process - family consulted about terms of reference
DHR process - family supported by expert specialist advocate
DHR process - family received draft report
DHR process - police recommendations
DHR process - health services recommendations
DHR process - idva or other domestic abuse support service recommendations
DHR process - probation services recommendations
DHR process - community safety partnership recommendations
DHR process - identification of risk recommendation themes
DHR process - training recommendation themes
DHR process - awareness raising recommendation themes
The Fenland Community Safety Partnership should ensure that an appropriate action plan is put in place for all statutory agencies to review their policy on risk assessments in cases that are re-investigated and where the victim(s) were assessed and managed initially as high-risk. A tag and flag system could be considered in appropriate cases.
The Fenland Community Safety Partnership should request a meeting with the Local Criminal Justice Board to discuss delays in cases that involve Domestic Abuse to ensure that justice is timely, to safeguard all victims within the case.
Addressed to
Fenland Community Safety Partnership | Countywide Domestic Abuse/Sexual Violence partnership
The Fenland Community Safety Partnership in conjunction with the Countywide Domestic Abuse/Sexual Violence partnership should provide a case study briefing to all frontline staff to ensure that they consider the risks where wider family members are exhibiting stalking and coercive and controlling behaviour.
The Fenland Community Safety Partnership should: i) Raise awareness of the risks of Domestic Abuse and Domestic Homicide in cases of separation, in particular those cases that involve child arrangement orders in the Family court. ii) They should meet and provide a briefing in relation to the findings of this report to the Local Family Justice Board. iii) They should meet and brief the Designated Family Court Judge for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to highlight this case and raise the issue in relation to the dangers of providing home addresses to all parties in proceedings.
The Fenland Community Safety Partnership should request that the Countywide Domestic Abuse/Sexual Violence strategic partnership include awareness raising in their training with frontline practitioners of Professor Monckton-Smith’s homicide timeline including how this could be applied to conflict in private law proceedings cases involving child arrangement orders.