Domestic homicide review released

September 21, 2015 by Southend Borough Council

Domestic homicide review released

Monday 21st September 2015

Southend Community Safety Partnership (SCSP) has today (21st September 2015) published its second Domestic Homicide Review.

It was undertaken by Independent Chairperson Christine Doorly and was commissioned by the SCSP after Mr Green (name has been changed to protect identity of the family) killed his grandfather and assaulted his grandmother (referred to as Mr and Mrs Blue) on 14th November 2013.

The Home Office were notified by the Southend Community Safety Partnership of their decision to undertake a Domestic Homicide Review on January 8th 2014. Mr Green was subsequently convicted of murder and attempted murder for the relevant offences. It was deemed that the threshold for a Domestic Homicide Review was met, and that this was to be undertaken under the auspices of the Southend Community Safety Partnership.

Christine Doorly, Independent Chairperson of the Domestic Homicide review, said: “Any situation that results in a review like this is of course a tragic case and our thoughts are with the family and friends.

“In my role as independent chair I have ensured that the process of reviewing the case has been open and transparent, determine whether there are any lessons to be learned in terms of how agencies worked together, make improvements in services and ensure the review follows the relevant Homes Office guidance.

“This is a somewhat unusual review in that the homicide did not take place within an on-going or escalating pattern of domestic abuse. The perpetrator had not seen the victim for many years and it will probably never be possible to understand his motivation for the attack, other than his stated rationale. Mr Green did not respond to requests to take part in the review, and it was felt that it would not be appropriate to involve members of the family in the review as given the nature of events there was no sense in which the victims were the subjects of domestic abuse prior to the attack, or could represent that experience.

“The clear view of the panel was that none of the areas reflected on in the individual management review or overview recommendations would have been likely to have made any difference in this case, and the overview report conclusion was that this homicide was neither predictable nor preventable.”