Domestic Homicide Review relating to the death of Alina

Approved for publication in August 2019

Summary

Unlawful killing of ‘Alina’ by ‘David’. Reported incidents of stalking and harassment escalated and culminated in the domestic homicide of Alina. A Domestic Homicide Review was undertaken in 2016 and found that whilst most services have provided appropriate response, there were also significant learning points that would lead to review and redevelopment of policy, procedure and practice for the agencies involved, when responding to incidence of stalking and harassment.

Issues identified

The review took place in 2016, and since this time agencies involved have taken proactive steps to change policy, procedure and practice to improve response.

At the time, the review found that across agencies, and within the community that could support Alina, there was a lack of recognition of the dangers of stalking.

There were also issues identified about use of language between victims and services; observations that the different ways an incident can be described and identified with by the victim and services could potentially lead to misunderstanding on the part of the victim. The panel also identified issues with regard to victim consent and the effect on timely intervention/contact (where a case is not assessed as high risk) for onward referral to support services.

The panel raised concerns about whether communication with young people was effective; particularly in reaching young women who are experiencing stalking and harassment, either proactively through education to help early identification and reporting, or in responding to reports of incidents with successful engagement with services. It asked ‘Are agencies cognisant of the different ways in which young women engage with services which may not ‘fit’ the current structures?’ The panel also acknowledged the impact of the existing culture and narrative in society, that creates an environment in which stalking and harassment is minimised, normalised or even rationalised as ‘romance’.

The panel identified the necessity of quality ‘sex and relationships’ education in schools.

The panel identified failure to follow procedures during its review. There were a number of instances where existing policy and procedure were not followed by Sussex Police. This has been the subject of a parallel review by the IOPC.

Lessons learned

A range of lessons learned were identified, in particular relating to:

• developing recognition and understanding of stalking and harassment and the characteristics, behaviours and motivations behind this; and how service response to such crimes and incidents must be specific to those circumstances.
• effective risk assessment: reliant on the right risk indicators for stalking and harassment being in place and these being confidently assessed
• victim perception of services and the subsequent impact on victim’s perceived ability to report concerns.
• services and the general public allowing perpetrator stalking behaviours to be down played
• a need for publicity to raise awareness amongst the general public of the following issues:

1. Coercive control and the risks associated with it.
2. Stalking behaviours and the help available.
3. Opportunities for family and friends to report their concerns and the use of schemes like Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme with particular emphasis on the range of people who have the ‘right to ask’.
4. Actions that friends and family members of victims can take to protect and support their friend or family member.

Actions we are taking

A range of recommendations were made with implications for individual agencies and the wider partnership around practice, training, partnership working and commissioning. These recommendations will be discharged into a city wide ‘combined action plan’ which manages the response to any common recommendations arising from local reviews.

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