Latest news with #domesticAbuse
BBC News
6 days ago
- General
- BBC News
West Yorkshire's deputy mayor calls for bigger police budgets
West Yorkshire's deputy mayor for policing says the chancellor needs to give forces across the country more money if they are to halve violence against women and girls. Labour's Alison Lowe has been answering questions on Message the Mayor on BBC Radio Leeds. She has also been talking about crossbow laws, tackling anti-social behaviour, and "unacceptable" delays into domestic abuse-related our takeaways from the interview below or listen to the full interview here. Police forces have £500m funding gap "Over the next three years, that is the national deficit for policing - irrespective of the money the government are giving us. And that's because of the cuts that have happened, and the underfunding."Last week, the West Yorkshire's Chief Constable John Robbins signed a letter to The Times, saying years of cuts had left forces overstretched and working in "broken" buildings with "outdated" technology. Death review timescales are unrealistic "I just don't think six months is enough. We should be saying it is a minimum of 12 months, just to manage some of those expectations of the families."The deputy mayor was asked about today's BBC News story, which suggests just 1% of reviews into domestic abuse-related deaths are being completed within six months - the target set by the says the government is creating a new "oversight board", to help speed up the process of reviewing these reports. Crossbows should be licensed - like guns "I'm hoping they (the government) equate crossbows with guns. So you can't get a crossbow unless you go through a process, you're registered, you're licensed, all the rest of it."Lowe says she doesn't know why anyone would want a crossbow and personally thinks they should be banned altogether - but recognises a "tiny number" of people use them for April, two people were injured in a crossbow attack along the route of the popular Otley Run pub crawl in Leeds. Tackling anti-social behaviour takes time "West Yorkshire Police have got 60 courses, all age appropriate, from [school] years one to 13."They teach children about how to stay safe, about how anti-social behaviour can impact them and about how they can become perpetrators or victims."But the deputy mayor says investing in lessons in schools today is a "long-term culture choice", and it could be 10 years before people see big benefits. Fly-tipping is a massive issue "It's a huge issue and it does lead to crime in communities, because where you've got a bit of green space that's been desecrated by fly tipping it means more people dump stuff, crime happens, kids start congregating and fires get lit."Concerns have been raised recently that the closure of rubbish tips, in places such as Birstall and Bradford, will lead to more waste being dumped at the side of the road.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
PM warned more funding needed to tackle violence against women
The prime minister has been warned he will fail to meet his own target of halving violence against women and girls without significant investment in services, according to two senior government watchdogs. This is the first time Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales Dame Nicole Jacobs and Victims Commissioner for England and Wales Baroness Newlove have written jointly to Sir Keir Starmer. The pair said victim support services were being "pushed to the brink" by funding cuts and rising intervention comes ahead of the chancellor's spending review later this month, which is expected to feature cuts to some areas of public spending. In a further headache for ministers, the country's most senior police chiefs have also warned Sir Keir Starmer they will face "stark choices" about which crimes to investigate if their budgets are cut as BBC understands that the Home Office, which is responsible for both victims and police forces, is still in negotiations with the Treasury over how funds will be allocated in the spending the letter seen by the BBC, the commissioners told Sir Keir that the spending review was a chance to define the government's legacy for victims and pair said they welcomed the prime minister's "personal commitment to halving violence against women and girls within a decade" but said "funding cuts and scaled back ambition are leading to piecemeal policies".They added that with "bold and ambitious investment, we can finally tackle the systemic stain of violence and abuse" and said the "cost of inaction is one this country can no longer afford".As first reported in The Times, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley is also among those cautioning Sir Keir against cuts in next week's spending review, saying they will herald a return to frontline police numbers last seen under over the heads of Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly seen as a "last-ditch ploy" by the police chiefs, who say negotiations between the Home Office and the Treasury have been going "poorly". Sir Mark, the head of the National Police Chiefs' Council Gavin Stephens, and the head of the National Crime Agency (NCA) Graeme Biggar made a direct appeal to the PM around the "far-reaching consequences" of decisions."We understand that the Treasury [is] seeking to finalise departmental budget allocations this week and that the negotiations between the Home Office and the Treasury are going poorly," they wrote."We are deeply concerned that the settlement for policing and the [NCA], without additional investment, risks a retrenchment to what we saw under austerity. This would have far-reaching consequences."The Conservative government's austerity policies saw police numbers fall by 45,000 between 2010 and 2016, with Office for National Statistics figures from 2016 showing violence against the person offences rose by 24% in the previous 12 police chiefs' letter sets out how government funding "has not kept pace with demand", which has left "very limited room for manoeuvre" within police services."A settlement that fails to address our inflation and pay pressures flat would entail stark choices about which crimes we no longer prioritise," they add."The policing and NCA workforce would also shrink each year."Last week, The Times disclosed that police chiefs and MI5 had warned the government that the early release scheme represented a threat to public was one of six police chiefs who publicly warned that promises on crime would be broken without more money from the Treasury.
Irish Times
29-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Donegal garda loses High Court challenge to suspension over alleged inappropriate relationship
Donegal-based Garda Keith Harrison has lost a High Court challenge to his ongoing suspension for an alleged inappropriate relationship with a woman he had dealt with while investigating alleged domestic abuse. Gda Harrison, who had given evidence at the Disclosures Tribunal investigating claims by Garda whistleblowers, was suspended in 2021 over the alleged inappropriate relationship. The suspension has been extended every three months since then. In March last year he started a High Court challenge to a Garda board of inquiry that was established to investigate the allegations against him. He claimed a belated disclosure of a decision not to prosecute the person accused of domestic abuse represented a significant change in circumstances that would trigger a requirement to notify him and invite submissions from him on the implications of that decision for his suspension. READ MORE He also claimed, among other complaints, that a particular witness statement had not been disclosed to his side until the board of inquiry hearing took place. Gda Harrison, who is stationed in Milford, also said the series of suspension extensions every three months was unlawful. He denied any wrongdoing, saying the relationship with the woman involved was consensual and has now ended. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris opposed the challenge. On Thursday, Mr Justice Garrett Simons dismissed the case after finding Gda Harrison's continuing suspension was lawful. Considering the 'seriousness of the breaches of discipline alleged and the apparent strength of the evidence underlying those allegations', the judge said, it was 'reasonable and rational' for the suspension to be extended at each three-month review. He was satisfied the belated disclosure of the June 2020 decision not to pursue a criminal prosecution was not a significant change that would to trigger a requirement to notify him. The essence of the alleged breach of discipline remained the same, he said. The challenge to the proposed procedures of the board of inquiry was premature and it could not be said, at this remove, that the process has gone irretrievably wrong, the judge said. The disciplinary process arose after the woman involved allegedly reported to Gda Harrison in 2019 that she was a victim of assault and domestic abuse. It is claimed he entered into a relationship with her within weeks. The judge said the alleged breach of discipline was that this was contrary to the professional duty of care for a garda to engage in a sexual relationship with a person who has made a complaint of domestic abuse to that officer. The alleged breach of discipline was directed towards 'the power dynamic between a person making a complaint of domestic abuse and the garda to whom that complaint is made', he said. The decision not the prosecute the person alleged to have carried out the abuse did 'not materially affect any assessment of the seriousness of the alleged breach of discipline', he said. Gda Harrison was one of several members of the force to appear before the Disclosures Tribunal. In 2017 and 2018, the tribunal chairman, Mr Justice Peter Charleton, rejected allegations made by him.
Times
22-05-2025
- Times
Non-fatal strangulation offence would be a deterrent, mother says
The mother of a student who took her life after being subjected to choking by a former boyfriend has called for non-fatal strangulation to be made an offence. Fiona Drouet made her plea to MSPs for a change in the law to deter offenders after the death of her daughter Emily. The law student was 18 when she died in 2016. She had been subjected to abuse and violence by her former boyfriend, Angus Milligan. She took her life just after he visited her at her room in halls of residence. Emily Drouet Drouet read text messages to MSPs that her daughter, a fresher at Aberdeen University, had sent to friends, with the student saying about the abuse: 'I was so scared, I thought I
BBC News
22-05-2025
- BBC News
Julie Ann McIlwaine lodges appeal against murder conviction
A woman jailed for 12 years for murdering her partner has lodged an appeal against her conviction, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has Ann McIlwaine, of Hazel Close, Lagmore, stabbed James Joseph Crossley, 38, while he slept at her former home in Filbert Drive in Dunmurry on 2 March 34-year-old had admitted to killing Mr Crossley but denied his sister, Rachel McIlwaine, told BBC News NI a "loss of control" defence should have been accepted in the case. During the trial the court heard how Julie Anne McIlwaine and James Joseph Crossley were in a relationship marred by domestic abuse and coercive October 2024, jurors at Coleraine Crown Court rejected her argument and found her guilty after nine hours of McIlwaine said her sister acted in "an acute stress reaction" and "has to pay for what she did", but she believes a manslaughter conviction would have been more said her sister accepted what she did and was "very remorseful", and the case had been "very traumatic for all the families involved"."We have been put through an ordeal that we potentially shouldn't have been put through due to the levels of domestic abuse that were prevalent in this relationship," she told BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme. Partial defence Rachel also said such a complex case should have been decided by a judge, and not a jury."To make these determinations as 12 individual people and come up with a unanimous decision is, I imagine, a very difficult thing. In my mind that legal test should not be a jury but a judge-led trial," she added.A PPS spokeswoman responded: "The loss of control is a partial defence to murder, which, if accepted by a jury, would reduce the charge to manslaughter. "This defence was raised by the defendant in this case. The jury, having heard all the facts and circumstances of the case, did not accept this defence and convicted the defendant of murder."The PPS spokeswoman said it had "a duty to put before the court those cases that meet the test for prosecution"."This means that there is sufficient evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction and that it is in the public interest to prosecute," she PPS also responded to criticism of the jury trial."The Director of Public Prosecutions can certify a non-jury trial in certain exceptional cases as set out in legislation. This case did not meet any of the legislative criteria for a non-jury trial," the PPS spokeswoman said."The defendant has lodged an appeal against conviction, and therefore it would be inappropriate for us to comment further." 'Can't imagine that loss' The judge, Mr Justice Kinney, described the murder of Mr Crossley as "brutal and savage''.He told the defendant that after serving the minimum of 12 years in custody, it would be up to parole commissioners to decide whether it was safe to release her back into the the time of his death, James Crossley was on bail for an assault against McIlwaine and was subject to a restraining order prohibiting him from being in contact with defence said McIlwaine was suffering from a temporary "stress reaction" brought on by the trauma of her abusive relationship. The prosecution told the court that the defendant's "rational choices" on the night of the stabbing proved that she was in control of what she was Tuesday's sentencing hearing, Det Insp Michelle Griffin of the PSNI said it has been an "extremely difficult case" involving two people who had been in a "mutually abusive relationship".She said that it had left "so many family members, including children, totally heartbroken".Rachel McIlwaine said she had a lot of "empathy" and "sadness" for Mr Crossley's family."I have my own brother, and my parents have their own son, and I can't imagine what that loss is like to a family," she said.
