Bereaved families consider suing over ‘flawed' domestic violence tool

Telegraph

13 hours ago

On Aug 19 2019, Ms Fields reported to police that Paul Crowther, her former partner, had threatened to kill her. She gave a statement and an officer completed a Dash form. He ticked 'yes' to only nine questions, grading her at 'medium' risk. A month later, Crowther stabbed her to death in the street.
Ms Jones said: 'I am one of the families that's thinking of coming on board. If it's been a scandal like the Post Office scandal and others, it needs to be out in the open. I don't want any other parents or loved ones to go through what her father and I have gone through.'
Last week, The Telegraph also reported on the case of Natalie Saunders, 33, who was murdered by Stephen Charlton in 2018 after Cleveland Police repeatedly graded her as 'medium risk', even after members of the public reported incidents of Charlton assaulting her and 'threatening her and saying he's gonna kill her'.
She was deemed 'high risk' only once, after escaping her abuser and calling police to say she was 'covered in marks' and feared for her life. But the following month, officers completed a Dash form and again scored her 'medium risk'. Seven weeks later, Charlton strangled her to death in her home.
'A preventable death'
On Wednesday, her brother Wayne Saunders told The Telegraph: 'For me, it's just been a quick tick-box exercise, and not looked into in greater depth.'
Mr Saunders, 46, from Stockton-on-Tees, added: 'I don't think my parents have had any closure, because she was let down massively by a lot of authorities. Her death could have been prevented.
'But it's not only that, these failings need to be highlighted for the simple fact that it could be someone else's life today, tomorrow, and the day after. More lives will be lost if nothing changes.'
Both families sought Article Two inquests into their loved ones' deaths, believing this would be the proper mechanism to examine potential state failings, but were refused. Ms Saunders' family are considering their next steps in the fight for justice.
An assessment in February warned the Home Office and advisers to Bridget Phillipson, the minister for women and equalities, that the tool was 'as helpful as flipping a coin'.
But despite the findings, the department went on to commission SafeLives, the charity behind Dash, to review how police and social services assessed risk in domestic abuse cases.
Flawed grading system
SafeLives said victims must answer 'yes' to at least 14 questions – which include whether the perpetrator has ever used a weapon, threatened to kill, or attempted to strangle, choke, suffocate or drown them – to be classed as 'high risk' and guaranteed urgent intervention.
Scores of nine to 13 mean 'medium' risk, while fewer than nine is 'standard' – but neither of these lower gradings guarantees women specialist support.
Practitioners are told by SafeLives to use 'professional judgment' to override low scores and are instructed to escalate cases after three or more police call-outs in a year.
A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs Council told The Telegraph that neither Dash nor its successor tool Dara, which has been adopted by 18 forces, were designed to be used in isolation and 'only provide a snapshot of information available at the time', stressing that officers were expected to apply judgement and training.
Cleveland Police said that after a 2021 review into Ms Saunders' death it improved domestic abuse training and has since made further changes. West Yorkshire Police said it had 'fully accepted' the findings of the reviews into Ms Fields' 'appalling death' and implemented all recommendations.