Domestic Homicide Reviews

Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FIN/25/2983

Version Date: 29/05/2025

The Crime & Criminal Justice Department have provided the following information.

1) The number of deaths of women referred by the force to be considered for domestic homicide reviews/domestic abuse related death reviews between 2019-2024

14 in the time specified

2) How many of the referrals identified in response to question 1 resulted in the review process being undertaken and how many did not

13 resulted in the review process being undertaken.  The other one was dealt with by a different review process.

3) For each death identified in response to question 1, please provide the number of DASH assessments completed by the force in relation to the deceased prior to their death and the risk level identified in each assessment

Clarification: my understanding (based on the SafeLives DASH guidance and Dorset Council's Multi-Agency Domestic Abuse Toolkit) is that "the purpose of the Dash risk checklist is to give a consistent and simple tool for practitioners who work with adult victims of domestic abuse in order to help them identify those who are at high risk of harm".

By that definition I'm interested in all DASH assessments related to women whose deaths have gone on to be referred for domestic homicide review.

If this is likely to exceed the time threshold then I'm content to limit the scope to the number of DASH assessments (and the risk level identified in each assessment) related to the deceased in the five years prior to the death.

Dorset Police use a Public Protection Notification report which incorporates the DASH and other forms of vulnerability that may also be relevant such as mental health and drug and alcohol misuse.

4) For each death identified in response to question 1, please provide the number of occasions on which the deceased was discussed at the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference/High Risk Daily Meeting/Daily Risk Assessment Management Meeting or equivalent meeting prior to their death.