EVIDENTIAL difficulties hampered almost four in five Thames Valley Police investigations into domestic abuse in the year to March 2020, figures show.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary warned that the charge rate for domestic abuse crimes was continuing to fall nationwide – despite forces redoubling efforts to support victims.

Figures obtained by HMIC showed in almost 20 per cent of cases in the 12 months to March 2020 that Thames Valley Police were unable to bring a prosecution – despite the victim’s support – due to ‘evidential difficulties’. In almost 60 per cent of cases, no charge could be brought because of evidential difficulties and the victim was unwilling to engage with a prosecution.

Fewer women’s cases were discussed at multi-agency safeguarding meetings – called MARACs – than in other forces across the country. Figures showed around 20 cases discussed in the 12 months to March 2020 per 10,000 women compared to a national average around 40 cases per 10,000 women.

Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Zoë Billingham said: “The police have shown they are dedicated to protecting victims of domestic abuse, but we still have some concerns about the longer-term response.

“While we know that not all victims want their case to go to court – and in fact some crimes are reported by third parties – we want the police to take the right action, using the powers only they have to protect victims.

“It’s a huge concern that on average, three in every four domestic abuse related crimes are closed by the police without the perpetrator being charged.

“Many forces are unable to explain the reasons why so many perpetrators are not being brought to justice.”

She added: “We are calling on all forces to immediately review why so many domestic abuse cases are being closed without any further action taken and to take steps to address this.”

Inspectors warned that delays in cases going through the courts could increase the chance of frustrated or despairing victims disengaging from the criminal justice process.

However, the report identified positive police initiatives aimed at helping victims of domestic violence. They name-checked Thames Valley Police for promoting the Bight Sky app, which provides support and information for those experiencing domestic abuse. The advice is available in English, Polish, Urdu and Punjabi.

Thames Valley Police said it recognised more needed to be done and was focussed on increasing the number of prosecutions. Arrests for domestic violence offences rose last year. A spokesman said: “We will work through the findings of the report to ensure that our response is the best it can be.”

Thames Valley Police’s statement in full:

A spokesman said: “Thames Valley Police is committed to providing the best, most informed service to victims of domestic abuse and dealing robustly with perpetrators. The report acknowledges the work of police forces in their response to domestic abuse during the pandemic. For Thames Valley Police, this included pro-active contact with victims during the initial lockdown, including those who had been repeat callers prior to the lockdown but from whom we had not heard from since. We know from victim feedback that this was well received. In addition, the force introduced a new policy to ensure that those at highest risk of domestic abuse received a consistent response from specialist detectives and partner agencies.

“The force conducted several initiatives and communication campaigns with partner agencies and specialist domestic abuse support workers to pro-actively reach out to the victims and ensure that they knew lines of communication were still available.

The force has increased use and awareness of Domestic Violence Protection Orders and importantly, increased focus of pro-actively managing them when they are granted, including innovate trials in Oxfordshire working with Independent Domestic Violence Advocates. We recognise that we can still do more in this area. The force notes the low number of cases discussed at MARAC and a plan is in place to review and address this, alongside continued focus on our outcome rate where there were either evidential difficulties or the victim was not supporting. The force is focussed on increasing the number of absent victim prosecutions alongside greater scrutiny of domestic abuse crimes that are filed because the victim is unsupportive of a prosecution and these matters were already contained within strategic planning documents for the year ahead as areas of focus.

“In 2020/21 the force saw an increase in the number of domestic abuse arrests and close to 1,000 more offences being resolved with a positive outcome. Thames Valley Police recognises that there is always more to be done in relation to improving our operational response to domestic abuse. We will work through the findings of the report to ensure that our response is the best it can be.

“Thames Valley Police would encourage anyone who is a victim of domestic abuse to please report it to police. If you are in immediate danger and you are able to please call 999 or if you wish to report an incident that has happened then please call 101.”

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