We are responsible for undertaking domestic homicide review (DHR) where the death of a person aged 16 or over has, or appears to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by a relative, household member or someone s/he had been in an intimate relationship with.

The purpose of a DHR is to consider the circumstances that led to the death and identify where responses to the situation could be improved in the future. In so doing, the lessons learned will be taken on board by the professionals and agencies involved, such as the police, social services, councils, and other community based organisations.

A review panel, lead by an independent chair, is commissioned to do the DHR and a panel overseeing the review is made up of members of local statutory and voluntary agencies. This panel will review each agency’s review of their involvement in the case and consider recommendations to improve responses to domestic violence in the future. They will also have the chance to hear from family, friends and work colleagues who may be able to help us understand the impact of agency’s involvement with the victim or the perpetrator.

DHRs are not inquiries into how someone died or who is to blame. They are not part of any disciplinary process. They do not replace, but will be in addition to, an inquest or any other form of inquiry into the homicide.
 
In this way, agencies will improve their responses to domestic violence and work better together to prevent such tragedies occurring in the future. Through our website, we will publish the reports and findings of these reviews as they become available.