Neglect drives elderly female homicide rate

Deaths from domestic violence increase for a second year with the biggest rise among over-65s

NEGLECT of the elderly has helped push up the female homicide rate to its highest level in 13 years, according to the latest data.

A total of 241 women were killed in England and Wales in the year to March 2019, with deaths among the over-65s accounting for the biggest increase.

Out of the 92 pensioners who were killed, 58 were women, with the number of cases of neglect leaping from six to 16 over the 12-month period.

It is the second year in a row the homicide rate – which covers murder and manslaughter – has gone up for women, with domestic violence accounting for the vast majority of cases.

Of the 241 homicide victims recorded last year, 71 per cent died in a domestic setting, with 80 killed by a partner or ex-partner, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The overall homicide rate in England and Wales fell by five per cent in the 12 months to March 2019, to 671 – down 33 on the previous 12 months.

The reduction was in part helped by a significant fall in the number of murder victims aged between 16 and 24 as police seek to bear down on knife crime.

The number of homicide victims in that age range fell from 148 to 113 year on year, a reduction of 24 per cent.

Campaigners fear the renewed focus on tackling headline-grabbing street violence could have an adverse impact on preventing problems in the home. Campaigners called for the forthcoming Domestic Abuse Bill to address the problem. Dame Vera Baird, the Victims’ Commissioner, said: “The Bill must be seen as an opportunity to tackle this long-standing issue once. It needs to ensure that all reports of domestic abuse are taken seriously from the start and there should be a major promotional campaign to help everybody to be able to recognise the symptoms.”

Another issue thought to be a factor in the rise is the scrapping of conditional bail for men arrested on suspicion of attacking their partners.

Suspects are now Released Under Investigation with the police powerless to impose conditions when they let them go.

Adina Claire from Women’s Aid said the figures were deeply concerning. She added: “The police response to domestic abuse remains a postcode lottery. While forces are investing in domestic abuse training, the use of powers to arrest and charge perpetrators remains highly inconsistent.”

The number of female babies and toddlers killed in the past year was the highest in a decade, with 14 baby girls and 13 girls aged between one and four the victims of murder or manslaughter between April 2018 and March 2019. It represents the highest figures since data was first collected in 2008.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “One homicide of an older person is one too many so these numbers are a real concern, as is the apparent jump in them over the last year, especially in terms of those killed by negligence and neglect. These statistics inevitably raise questions about whether our hugely overstretched social care system is still able to keep older people safe, which is an awful indictment of how things currently are.”

She called on the Government to “refinance and reform social care”.