Domestic homicide reviews- Reviewing a death as a result of domestic violence

Domestic homicide is defined as the death of a person who is over 16 as a result of neglect or abuse from a relative, someone who was in an intimate personal relationship with them, or was a member of the same household.

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When this happens, the law says that professionals involved in the case must review what happened so that they can:

identify what needs to be changed
reduce the risk of it happening again in the future.

The purpose of a domestic homicide review isn’t to investigate how the victim died or who is responsible. It is to understand what lessons services can learn from the death of the victim in order to prevent further domestic violence homicides occurring in the future.

When a domestic homicide takes place in Lewisham the police immediately inform the appropriate services and reach a decision about whether a domestic homicide review is necessary following Home Office guidance.