Response to domestic violence incident - Cheshire Constabulary, February 2017

On 25 February 2017 officers from Cheshire Constabulary responded to a call from the neighbour of a woman who alleged she had been assaulted by her ex-partner. The ex-partner was subject to bail conditions not to contact the woman or go to her address. Officers went to the woman’s home and confirmed the allegations. They then searched for her ex-partner in the local area, but did not locate him. The officer in charge of the case submitted a crime report for assault, but, following this, the man was not found. On 1 April 2017 the woman was arrested for wounding her ex-partner by stabbing him. However, she was not convicted. The man was subsequently discharged from hospital.

The Lead Investigator took statements from the police officers involved and obtained radio transmissions and documentary evidence from the police systems. They also considered the relevant policies and procedures.

During the investigation there was no indication any police officer may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence.

As part of our investigation we identified that the response of one officer to the initial domestic violence incident had fallen below the standard expected. However, we also noted that the officer had not received specific training on how to respond to domestic abuse incidents. Since the incident, the officer had recognised a number of areas where he could improve going forward and said he had learnt from this.

After reviewing our report, the force agreed that no formal performance proceedings were needed. They proposed to deal with this matter through professional development and review of the officer’s investigative workload. We agreed that their proposals were appropriate.