Domestic Homicide Reviews

What is a Domestic Homicide Review?

The Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership will carry out a Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) when someone aged 16 or over dies as a result of violence, abuse or neglect by a relative, household member or someone they’ve been in an intimate relationship with.

Domestic Homicide Reviews were established on a statutory basis under the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004). The Home Office have published Multi-agency Statutory Guidance for the Conduct of Domestic Homicide Reviews.

The DHR process

The DHR will look at the circumstances that led to the death. This will help professionals understand what happened and what needs to change to reduce the risk of something like this happening again.

The DHR will be carried out by a review panel made up of people from the Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership. This includes the police, domestic abuse specialist services, health services, fire service, probation services, and specialist agencies. The panel is led by an independent chair. The panel will look at each agency’s involvement in the case and might speak to family, friends and work colleagues of the victim. They will then make recommendations to improve the response to domestic violence in the future.

The DHR report won’t say how the person died or who’s to blame. The review takes place in addition to other inquires, like an inquest or post-mortem.

AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) have created a short film Approaching a Domestic Homicide Review to outline the purpose of a DHR and to inspire those taking part in DHR’s to become open to learning. This leads to a meaningful review where lessons are learnt and responses can be improved for the future.

Request a DHR

If you believe that a case meets the criteria for DHR, please complete a DHR Request Form and email to KBSP.statutoryreviews@bristol.gov.uk. You will need to demonstrate how the criteria are fulfilled and provide as much information as possible to support this.

Before submitting the referral do discuss with your agency representative on the KBSP SAR/DHR sub group. If you are unsure if your organisation has a representative on the KBSP SAR/DHR sub group, contact KBSP.statutoryreviews@bristol.gov.uk and the business unit will be able to advise you.

Previous DHRs

An archive of Domestic Homicide Reviews published under the Safer Bristol Community Safety Partnership can be found below. All DHRs published after September 2019 are under the banner of the Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership.

The Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership has today (9th September 2024) published a Domestic Homicide Review which was commissioned following the death of Julia (pseudonym) in February 2017.

The Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership (KBSP) has today (23rd July 2024) published a Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) which was commissioned following the death of Tony (pseudonym) in June 2017. The Partnership wishes to extend their sympathy to anyone affected by Tony’s death and thank those who have contributed to this review.

This professionals briefing examines the learning identified from a Domestic Homicide Review commissioned following a murder and suicide. The full review has not been published to protect the identity of the individuals involved.

The Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership (KBSP) has today (21st June 2024) published a Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) which was commissioned following the death of Hassan (pseudonym) in January 2019. The Partnership wishes to extend their sympathy to anyone affected by Hassan’s death and thank those who have contributed to this review.

The Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership has today (6th June 2024) published a Domestic Homicide Review commissioned following the tragic death of Diana (pseudonym). The Partnership wishes to extend their sympathy to Diana’s family and friends and is grateful to those who have contributed information to this review.

The Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership has today (26th March 2024) published a review commissioned following the tragic death of Nevaeh (pseudonym). The Partnership wishes to extend their sympathy to Nevaeh's family and friends and is grateful to those who have contributed information to this review.

This joint Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) and Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) looked into the experiences of Caroline (not her real name) who died in 2018. The full review has not been published to protect Caroline’s identity. A learning brief has been published to ensure the learning from this review can be shared with professionals.

This Domestic Homicide Review examines the death of a woman from a minoritised community in Bristol.

This Domestic Homicide Review examines the death of Nicki (not her real name), a woman in her early 30s in Bristol. KBSP have published just a professionals' briefing for this DHR.

The review highlighted the need to continue to work at a local and national level to change the attitudes to male victims of domestic abuse, and to improve the services available.

The Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership (KBSP) has published a Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) which was commissioned following the tragic murder of Becky Watts.

This Domestic Homicide Review examines the circumstances surrounding the death of Maggie (pseudonym) a woman in her 40’s, in Bristol.

Rasa, a 61-year-old Lithuanian woman,lived in sheltered housing in Bristol.

This Domestic Homicide Review examines the circumstances surrounding the death of Susan Taylor (pseudonym), a woman in her 30’s, in Bristol.

Child D, 2018, is a joint Serious Case Review and Domestic Homicide Review following the death of 17 year old boy through knife violence

Idil was 22 at the time of her death in Bristol.

This domestic homicide review examines agency responses and support given to Carly (a pseudonym), who was a resident of Bristol, prior to her death in August 2013.

This Domestic Homicide Review examines the circumstances surrounding the death of Jean (pseudonym), 48 years of age, in Bristol.