Domestic homicide reviews
A Domestic Homicide Review (DHRs) came into effect on 13 April 2011. They were established on a statutory basis under Section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Adults Act (2004).
The Wakefield District Community Safety Partnership is responsible for conducting Domestic Homicide Reviews. These reviews occur when the death of a person aged 16 or over is suspected to have resulted from: violence, abuse, or neglect by a family member, intimate partner, or someone from the same household.
Purpose of a Domestic Homicide Review
The purpose of DHRs is to:
- establish what lessons are to be learned from the domestic homicide
- this is regarding the way local professionals and organisations work, individually and together, to safeguard victims
- identify clearly what those lessons are both within and between agencies
- it will also work out how and within what timescales they will be acted on, and what is expected to change as a result
- apply those lessons to service responses including changes to policies and procedures as appropriate
- prevent domestic violence homicide and improve service responses for all domestic violence
DHRs are not enquiries into how someone died or who is to blame, nor do they form part of a disciplinary process. They do not replace, but are in addition to, an inquest and any other form of enquiry into a homicide.
How we publish our reviews
We create an overview report, executive summary and action plan for each domestic homicide review which must be published. These reports set out the context in which a domestic abuse related death occurs. It then makes recommendations for services to improve practice. Each summary domestic homicide review is published on this page.
We remove domestic homicide reviews from this site after two years.
Policies and guidance
- Domestic homicide reviews: statutory guidance
- Domestic violence and abuse
- Domestic homicide reviews: key findings from research