Investigation into family’s complaints after woman dies in honour-based murder – West Yorkshire Police, April 2021
In April 2021, a woman called West Yorkshire Police (WYP) to report concerns about her daughter and her daughter’s husband. These concerns related to the controlling and coercive behaviour of the husband towards his wife.
Officers went to the mother’s home and spoke with both the mother and her daughter. They took a statement from the daughter where she disclosed details about the controlling and coercive behaviour, as well as multiple historic domestic assaults.
A domestic abuse stalking and honour-based abuse (DASH) assessment was completed and graded medium-risk. During this meeting, the daughter repeated consistently that she did not want the police to pursue an investigation as she believed this would make matters worse. She said she wanted the crimes to be recorded in police systems as an account of what had been happening between herself and her husband. The matter was filed with no further police action in July 2021.
In August 2021, the daughter reported further domestic abuse, and officers visited her again at her mother’s home. She said she was pregnant and was seeking to end her marriage. A further DASH risk assessment was completed and graded as medium-risk. The case was re-opened.
In September 2021, the daughter was murdered by her husband. He was found guilty of her murder in April 2023 and was sentenced to life imprisonment for a minimum of 20 years. At the time of her death, the controlling and coercive behaviour investigation remained ongoing.
We received a death or serious injury referral from the force in September 2021. This was returned to the force for local investigation. The same month, the daughter’s uncle complained to the force about the way in which the family were dealt with after her death, as well as the lack of protection given to his niece and why complaints about her husband were not progressed. This was not taken forward at the time due to the murder trial.
In June 2023, a further complaint was made by the mother. The force took a complaint statement from the mother but, in error, her complaint was not recorded or referred to us until April 2024.
In April 2024 we decided to independently investigate the complaints made by the mother and uncle.
In September 2024, a charity for victims and survivors of honour-based abuse sent a letter on behalf of the mother to the force outlining additional complaints about the force’s handling of the controlling and coercive behaviour investigation. These additional complaints were referred to us in October 2024.
We decided to independently investigate the actions of WYP following the reports of controlling and coercive behaviour and domestic abuse made in 2021. This included the risk assessments that were made, WYP’s considerations surrounding honour-based abuse, and the safeguarding and communication strategy.
We also examined the actions of WYP after the daughter’s death, including the way the family were told about her death and the support they were given, measures taken to secure evidence at the family home, and the handling of complaints made by the mother and uncle.
We considered whether there was any indication that discriminatory behaviour may have influenced the treatment that the mother and uncle received.
Our investigators examined body worn video footage from the conversations officers had with the family, as well as call logs, police records, and DASH risk assessments. We took statements from and interviewed officers involved in the incident.
We concluded there was no indication that a person serving with the police committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner to justify disciplinary proceedings.
We found that the officer tasked with completing the DASH risk assessment displayed empathy, listening and communication skills, built rapport with the family and provided practical advice and support. They also obtained a large amount of evidence through verbal accounts which was captured on body worn video footage. Much of this was included in the DASH risk assessment and daughter’s statement, which they sought oversight and endorsement of.
We did find that factors relevant to the potential escalation of risk were not recorded. These included the daughter’s plans to leave her husband, consulting with solicitors about this, starting a new job, and her birthday.
We recommended that this officer would benefit from the reflective practice review process (RPRP). This process allows officers to learn from and reflect on what could have been done better.
We recommended that they reflect on situations where honour-based abuse may be relevant, the additional risks and complexities associated with this abuse, and the importance of exploring it. We also recommended that they consider the requirement and importance of sharing risk assessment outcomes with victims.
Our investigation also found areas where the overall service provided by the police was not acceptable.
Our evidence showed that significant weight was placed on the daughter’s wish not to support a prosecution and the risk to her if the police were to act. These were relevant considerations, and CPS guidance states that victims should not be placed at increased risk through a case proceeding without their support. However, in this case there was little rationale recorded to show that careful consideration had been given to an evidence-led prosecution, or even seeking to obtain further supporting evidence to enable an informed decision about whether this would be possible.
We recommended that officers be reminded of the importance of considering an evidence-led prosecution and appropriately documenting this, as well as the rationale for not proceeding.
We also found that the force’s communication with the family was inconsistent and irregular despite a commitment to bi-weekly updates and sometimes lacked transparency.
We recommended that the force apologise to the family for the delays in progressing their complaints, instances of poor communication where updates on developments in the investigation were not passed on, providing inaccurate information, and for sharing distressing information which would have benefitted from better planning.
We did not find any evidence that discriminatory behaviour influenced the police’s treatment of the family.
We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.
We are in the process of considering learning recommendations and will publish these in due course, if appropriate.