Government to strengthen learning after domestic homicide

It is considering changes to ensure DHR legislation reflects the legal definition of domestic abuse, and amend the name to better reflect the range of deaths which fall in their scope, the Minister for Safeguarding announced on Friday (June 16).

A multi-agency domestic homicide review seeks to identify and implement lessons learnt from deaths that police investigations believe have, or appear to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect. Their aim is to better protect victims in future and prevent further tragedies.

The eight-week public consultation will consider changes to domestic homicide reviews to bring them in line with the statutory definition of domestic abuse enacted in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

This would mean that a DHR can be commissioned whenever there is a death that has, or appears to have, resulted from domestic abuse. This includes controlling or coercive behaviour, emotional and economic abuse, in addition to physical abuse, and will help to ensure that lessons are learnt from fatal domestic abuse cases.

The consultation will also consider renaming DHRs as ‘domestic abuse fatality reviews’ to reflect cases where the death was not a result of homicide, such as in the case of suicide.

Safeguarding Minister, Sarah Dines said: “Domestic abuse is a devastating crime which can have tragic outcomes, including murder and suicide.

“The Government is committed to protecting people from this horrific abuse in all its forms and we are striving to make changes that will bring justice to victims and some comfort to their loved ones.

The changes are being considered in response to concerns from charities and bereaved families that the current system does not reflect the full range of domestic abuse related deaths.

Chief executive officer of Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse, Frank Mullane MBE, said: “Renaming these reviews and incorporating the statutory definition of domestic abuse, reflects the findings of the extensive forensic work achieved over 12 years.

“We do not know how many deaths are fully, or in part attributable to domestic abuse, but these reviews have revealed many of them, for example some suicides and deaths from neglect.

“Commissioning these reviews sends the signal that the state takes very seriously any deaths caused by domestic abuse.”

Last month, the Home Office  allocated up to £39 million to 50 projects across England and Wales supporting initiatives to weed out domestic abuse and stalking.

It also implementing tougher measures on the most dangerous domestic abuse offenders, including ensuring that offenders convicted of controlling or coercive behaviour and sentenced to 12 months or more will be managed in the same way as the most dangerous physically violent offenders, and recorded on the Violent and Sex Offender Register.