FOI 584-24 Domestic Homicide Reviews

Enquiry Reference:  584 - 24                                                                                                    

 

I write in connection with regards to your Freedom of Information request, firstly please accept my apology for the delay.  Below is your request and our response.

 

I would like to request your force’s data on domestic homicide from 2020 onwards,

• how many of these have been cases of suspected victim suicide, and

 

• No information held.

*This data was not captured as a domestic homicide within Cleveland until the start of April 2024. Cleveland police are working with VKPP to determine which of our cases would fit the criteria for a domestic related suicide death from the information we have provided them. This information has not been resolved as yet as we are still collating the data for 2023/2024.

 

• how many of these cases have been referred for a Domestic Homicide Review by your force.

• 1

*1 incident has been referred in 2024 and is currently an ongoing DHR. Due to the previous lack of recording qualifiers, no others were referred.

 

If possible, could you also please specify under what offence you record

• cases of domestic homicide,

• Murder

 

• cases of suspected victim suicide following domestic abuse, and

• Unexplained death

 

• any changes to these recording practices in the last 5 years.

• Cleveland police have added a qualifier of suspected suicide onto police systems to allow for extraction of data whereby suicide is believed to be cause of death outside of coroner verdicts. This was introduced in April 2024 and as a result the data cannot be extracted prior to that date.

 

The Cleveland Police response to your request is unique and it should be noted that Police Forces do not use generic systems or identical procedures to capture and record data therefore responses from Cleveland Police should not be used as a comparison with any other force response you receive.

 

If you are not satisfied with this response or any actions taken in dealing with your request, you have the right to request an independent internal review of your case under our review procedure. The Freedom of Information Code of Practice (see below link) states that a request for internal review should be made within 20 working days of the date on this response or 40 working days if extenuating circumstances to account for the delay can be evidenced. Public authorities are not obliged to accept internal reviews after this date.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-code-of-practice

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Rights Decision Maker