BETTER communication between different agencies could have led to a known violent domestic abuser being identified as the partner of a woman ultimately murdered by the same man, a domestic homicide review has concluded.
The murder of ‘Amy’, a mother-of-one, was investigated by the Domestic Homicide Review Panel, with the report authored by Chair Anne Marks.
Amy, a pseudonym, was believed murdered by her partner, Steven, who later died by suicide, according to the review into the way agencies, including three health trusts and the PSNI, handled linked issues to the case ahead of her killing.
“Amy was trapped in a relationship with Steven. Steven was controlling, coercive and violent, and he would not allow her to leave. It is understood that this ultimately resulted in her murder,” Ms Marks wrote.
"The review has established that evidence of Steven’s violent and controlling behaviours already existed before his relationship with Amy had commenced. This was not given the importance that it should have been.
"Links were not made between the patterns of serious abuse against family members, and the harm that he might pose to Amy and her child. The warning signs were there. The response to Amy’s situation was limited and there were missed opportunities to identify that Steven was part of her life. There were missed opportunities to identify the perpetrator’s role in the victim’s life, to intervene, and identify risk factors.”
While Amy never reported to any organisation that Steven was abusing her. However, various organisations were engaged at different points with Amy, Steven, and Steven’s family. He was known to have violently abused members of his own family.
“Better communications between the organisations, fuller assessments, more targeted enquiries, could have potentially led to a better understanding of Amy experiences, including that a relationship with Steven existed,” Ms Marks concluded.
Ms Marks recommended “an improved collaborative” among health and social services and PSNI.
Health trusts and police should jointly produce a draft paper within six months outlining the way forward, for implementation within two years.
She added: “Ending domestic violence and abuse means effectively dealing with those who abuse.
“Steven was known to multiple services and was involved in persistent harmful behaviour. However, there was no effective coordinated management of his risk and quality assured interventions.”
Further, information was not shared with one health trust by police “regarding unrelated incidents they had attended at Amy’s home and where Amy’s child may have needed the (trust’s) services.”
