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
Wakefield review
CSP: WakefieldPublished: August 2026Year of death: 2022Extracted: 7 recs
Statutory domestic homicide review under section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. Source: Home Office DHR Library.
The review identified concerns regarding agencies' professional curiosity and engagement with victims, inconsistent identification and referral of domestic abuse, including inadequate risk assessments and understanding of coercive control, and missed opportunities for information sharing, contributing to a failure to recognise escalating risks.
Home Office classifications
51 tags
Source-supplied classifications used by the Home Office to catalogue this review.
Victim - died by suicide
Victim - alcohol misuse
Victim - substance misuse
Victim - mental ill health
Victim - depression
Victim - self harm
Victim - suicidal thoughts
Victim - suicide attempts
Victim - had been a victim of an abuser before
Children - under 18 shared parental responsibility (between victims)
Children - under 18 shared parental responsibility (between perpetrators)
Children - living with victim (including adult children)
Children - present at homicide (including adult children)
Children - subject to child protection or domestic abuse prior to homicide
Children - removed into care
Child - primary address same as victim
Perpetrator - alcohol misuse
Perpetrator - substance misuse
Perpetrator - housing issues
Perpetrator - mental ill health
Perpetrator - anxiety
Perpetrator - panic attacks
Perpetrator - serious or life limiting illness
Perpetrator - known to agencies as a domestic abuse perpetrator
Perpetrator - known to police as a domestic abuse perpetrator
Perpetrator - known to social services as a domestic abuse perpetrator
Perpetrator - known to health services as a domestic abuse perpetrator
Perpetrator - known to idva or other domestic abuse support service as a domestic abuse perpetrator
Perpetrator - known to school as a domestic abuse perpetrator
Perpetrator - known to others as a domestic abuse perpetrator
Perpetrator - known to family as a domestic abuse perpetrator
Perpetrator - died by suicide
Aggravating factors - separation
Aggravating factors - coercive or controlling behaviour
Aggravating factors - sexual abuse
Aggravating factors - psychological or emotional abuse
Aggravating factors - physical abuse
Aggravating factors - economic abuse
DHR process - family contributed to dhr
DHR process - family supported by expert specialist advocate
DHR process - police recommendations
DHR process - social services recommendations
DHR process - health services recommendations
DHR process - housing services 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 - awareness raising recommendation themes
DHR process - other recommendation themes
Extracted recommendations
7 recommendations pulled from the report · 6 matched to organisations in the index
Agencies should satisfy themselves that practitioners demonstrate the need for professional curiosity in cases where adults are unable to attend appointments or engage appropriately with services offered to identify the risks that they face.
West Yorkshire Police should ensure that frontline officers understand that domestic abuse is likely to be reported at the point where risk is escalating for the victim and that victims may feel in a hopeless situation with no means of escape from a controlling partner. It is important that the service response is effective to avoid reinforcing the victim’s sense of hopelessness and isolation. This would include ensuring that relevant investigations are properly investigated with all potential lines of enquiry followed.
Addressed to
MYHT | SWYPFT | HDFT | ICB | YAS | West Yorkshire Police | Wakefield Children’s Social Care | Youth Justice Service | Housing Needs Service | Turning Point-Drugs and Alcohol | Victim Support
Each agency should reassure itself that practitioners understand the impact of controlling and coercive behaviour, including stalking, on victims of domestic abuse.
Health agencies should ensure that practitioners carry out the appropriate routine or targeted enquiries in line with NICE guidance, to better understand the risk of domestic abuse faced by service users.
NICE should review their domestic abuse guidance and ensure that it provides clarity with respect to routine and targeted enquiry as well as reflecting the changes introduced by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
West Yorkshire Police should ensure that frontline staff understand the need to use professional judgement and all available sources of information when using the DASH risk assessment tool to identify high risk victims, particularly in cases involving threats to kill, controlling and coercive behaviour, substance misuse and other domestic abuse triggers including separation.
Practitioners system wide should be encouraged to share or seek information to support risk assessments in relation to adults who they have a concern about, but who don’t fit within statutory frameworks for information sharing, such as MAPPA, section 42 of the Care Act 2014 or other sharing requirements including MARAC.