Domestic homicide

Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FOI/24/006640/S

 Version Date: 28/06/2024

The Major Crime Investigation Team have provided the following information.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request your force’s data on domestic homicide from 2020 onwards,

how many of these have been cases of suspected victim suicide,

Information not held. There is no specific incident category for victim suicide on the Force crime and incident recording systems.

and how many of these cases have been referred for a Domestic Homicide Review by your force.

• Total Domestic Homicide Review referrals by Devon and Cornwall Police since January 2020 = 52
• Number of suicide Domestic Homicide Review referrals by Devon and Cornwall Police since January 2020 = 32

If possible, could you also please specify under what offence you record cases of domestic homicide,

The Home Office defines homicide as murder, manslaughter, infanticide and causing or allowing the death or serious injury of a child or vulnerable adult.

Domestic murders are recorded in line with Home Office counting rules as the appropriate homicide offence - there is no specific Home Office category of a domestic homicide. However, qualifiers (flags) are added to records which provide detail of the offence, including the fact that it is domestic abuse related.

under what offence you record cases of suspected victim suicide following domestic abuse,

Suicides are not recorded as a crime since the abolition of suicide as a criminal offence in 1961. However, when an individual dies by suicide an ‘unexplained adult death’ record is created on the Force crime and incident recording systems.

and any changes to these recording practices in the last 5 years.

The Niche crime recording system was introduced in 2022 but process for recording homicides has remained the same and is governed by the Home Office.