Response to allegations of assault - Greater Manchester Police, October 2015

On 24 October 2015 Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers attended an incident where a man had allegedly assaulted his female partner. The man was not present at the scene and was not arrested that night.

Over the following week, enquiries remained with the response team who were seeking to arrest the man for the assault. The man was known to be a serial domestic abuse perpetrator. The man was not arrested by response officers. Enquiries were eventually passed to the neighbourhood policing team.

Eight days after the initial assault, the woman contacted GMP and reported that her ex-partner had sent her threatening text messages. The same evening, GMP received a report that he had stabbed the woman several times, causing very serious, but non-fatal, injuries.

During the investigation, investigators obtained documentary evidence relating to the management of the crime, interviewed the response and neighbourhood officers and supervisors responsible for managing the arrest enquiries, and reviewed local and national guidance in relation to investigating domestic abuse.

The Investigator formed the opinion that there was insufficient evidence upon which a reasonable tribunal, properly directed, could find misconduct.

The Investigator was also of the opinion that the performance of four officers still serving with the force may be considered unsatisfactory.

After reviewing our report, the force agreed and advised that the officers concerned would be made aware of the findings of the report to ensure individual learning and development. The report will also be submitted to GMP’s Organisational Learning Board to support the force-wide management of risk and safeguarding.

We agreed that their proposed actions were appropriate.