Recommendations - Sussex Police, September 2024

The IOPC recommends that Sussex Police should amend their training, guidance and practices around policing and safeguarding victims of domestic abuse to reflect the increased risk to those experiencing domestic abuse when a suspect is known to be a serial perpetrator of domestic abuse. Officers attending domestic abuse incidents should ensure any information about a domestic abuse suspect being a serial perpetrator of domestic abuse should be recorded on all safeguarding documents, and also factor into an officer’s assessment of the risk posed to those experiencing domestic abuse. This recommendation has arisen as a result of a death or serious injury (DSI) investigation where a woman entered into a relationship with a man who was known by Sussex Police to be a serial domestic abuse suspect. For most of the occasions where Sussex Police officers came into contact with the woman, officers graded the risk posed to her as medium despite the man being classed as a high-risk serial perpetrator of domestic abuse. Approximately three months after entering into a relationship with the man, the woman was found deceased and the man was subsequently convicted of her murder.

Accepted

Force response

The IOPC recommends that Sussex Police should amend training, guidance and practices around policing and safeguarding victims of domestic abuse to reflect the risk to a domestic abuse victim will likely be increased if the victim has any additional vulnerabilities outside of being a victim of domestic abuse. Officers attending domestic abuse incidents should ensure any information about a victim of domestic abuse having additional vulnerabilities, outside of being a victim of domestic abuse, should be recorded on all safeguarding documents, and also factor into an officer’s risk assessments and safeguarding decisions. Additional vulnerabilities can include, but are not limited to, physical and mental health conditions, addiction issues, homelessness and immigration status. This recommendation has arisen as a result of a death or serious injury (DSI) investigation where a woman entered into a relationship with a man who was known by Sussex Police to be a serial domestic abuse suspect. The woman had ongoing addiction issues, and she had become homeless while in a relationship with the man. Approximately three months after entering into a relationship with the man, the woman was found deceased and the man has subsequently been convicted of her murder.

Accepted

Force response

The IOPC recommends that Sussex Police should amend their policies, training and practices around policing and safeguarding victims of domestic abuse to reflect the escalating risk if there are multiple domestic abuse incidents in a short period. Should officers attend domestic incidents relating to a victim three times within a six-month period, they should consider this to be an increased risk to the person experiencing domestic abuse, and they should inform the local authority and domestic abuse services of this development. This recommendation has arisen as a result of a death or serious injury (DSI) investigation where a woman entered into a relationship with a man who was known to be a serial domestic abuse suspect. Approximately three months after entering into a relationship with the man, the man had murdered the woman. During their three-month relationship, Sussex Police officers came into contact with the woman and man a number of times and the man was arrested twice.

Accepted

Force response