Police response to welfare concerns preceding the murder of a woman – South Yorkshire Police, May 2020
On 4 May 2020, South Yorkshire Police (SYP) received a report that a woman had been assaulted and threatened with a shotgun. They recorded a crime and gathered evidence from witnesses. SYP identified the alleged perpetrator as the women’s ex-partner and arrested him on suspicion of assault and threats to kill. He was later charged with common assault. On 6 June, the woman was found dead in her ex-partner’s home. SYP subsequently charged the ex-partner with the woman’s murder.
Our investigation considered how SYP investigated the report of assaults and threats to kill with how they managed risk and safeguarding measures to protect the woman. We obtained witness statements from the SYP officers and police staff involved in the incident. We also obtained the relevant local and national policies and procedures.
Our investigation concluded there was no indication that any police officers or police staff may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence. All were treated as witnesses and cooperated fully with this investigation. Although SYP referred this matter to us in June 2020, we suspended our investigation until after the conclusion of the SYP murder investigation and trial.
In November 2020, we resumed our investigation as there was no criminal trial following the man taking his own life.
In March 2021, the inquest was held into the woman’s death and HM Coroner recorded a conclusion of unlawful killing.
We concluded our investigation in May 2021 and shared our report with SYP who agreed with our findings. We waited for all associated proceedings and a linked investigation to be finalised before publishing our findings.
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. In this case, the investigation has not identified any learning.