What is a Domestic Homicide Review?
A Domestic Homicide Review, often called a DHR, is a review that takes place when the death of a person aged 16 or over has, or appears to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by:
- a person to whom they were related or with whom they were or had been in an intimate personal relationship, or
- a member of the same household as themself
The review looks at what happened and how different services were involved before the person died.
Why do we carry out a DHR?
The purpose of a DHR is to help keep people safe in the future. It does this by:
- establish what lessons are to be learned from the domestic homicide regarding the way in which local professionals and organisations work individually and together to safeguard victims
- identify clearly what those lessons are both within and between agencies, how and within what timescales they will be acted on, and what is expected to change as a result
- apply these lessons to service responses including changes to inform national and local policies and procedures as appropriate
- prevent domestic violence and homicide and improve service responses for all domestic violence and abuse victims and their children by developing a co-ordinated multi-agency approach to ensure that domestic abuse is identified and responded to effectively at the earliest opportunity
- contribute to a better understanding of the nature of domestic violence and abuse
- highlight good practice
Guidance for DHRs
The Home Office introduced rules for carrying out Domestic Homicide Reviews in April 2011.
Read the statutory guidance for Domestic Homicide Reviews
This guidance is currently being reviewed. In the future, DHRs will become Domestic Abuse‑Related Death Reviews (DARDRs). These new reviews will look at a wider range of deaths linked to domestic abuse.
Learning from reviews
The Home Office has shared learning from past Domestic Homicide Reviews in national reports, including:
These reports help councils and services improve how they protect people at risk.
Published reviews for Wirral Council
Bethany
Documents relating to the review for 'Bethany' are available below: