Decision not to review lockdown killing slated
AMULTI-AGENCY decision not to review the circumstances leading up to the killing of a woman by her husband during the first UK lockdown has been criticised by campaigners.
Ruth Williams, 67, was strangled to death by Anthony Williams, 70, at their home in Cwmbran, on March 28 last year, for which he was sentenced last week to five years in prison.
He was cleared of murder, having already pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility, with the trial judge saying that Williams’ mental state was “severely affected” by depression and anxiety and that there was no evidence of any previous domestic violence.
Torfaen council said that it and partner organisations would not launch a domestic homicide review (DHR) due to the couple’s “very limited involvement with services and an absence of any domestic abuse history”.
In a statement, it said a DHR, required by law to review whether anything about the circumstances of a killing can help prevent future domestic violence for others and improve service responses for victims,
was “unlikely” to “reveal multiagency learning or actions to be taken forward”.
But the decision has been criticised by those with experience of the DHR process, including Labour MP Harriet Harman, who said she will write to Home Secretary Priti Patel as well as the council to have it reviewed.
Ms Harman, whose work on the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 led to the setting up of DHRs, said: “If there’s been a domestic homicide, there ought to be a review.
“It’s really important to look at the surrounding circumstances, and whether or not there was evidence
that anybody had that there was coercive control and an abusive situation at home. We don’t know that until a domestic homicide review undertakes its work. ”
Frank Mullane, whose sister and nephew were murdered in 2003, sparking his campaign to ensure that DHRs became law, said he found the multi-agency decision “exasperating” and has also written to Ms Patel.
Mr Mullane, who has qualityassured more than 800 of the reviews, pointed to statutory guidance which states that DHRs “should probe why there was little or no contact with agencies”.
He told PA: “We cannot say there’s nothing to learn until we take a look.
“It’s not just about multi-agency learning, it’s about situating the review in the community, where victims of domestic abuse go first to seek help. We need to put advice, knowledge, information and solutions in the community.
“I don’t know if Mrs Williams suffered domestic abuse in the lead-up to her death, but I do know a DHR should be undertaken..”
A spokesman for the Gwent-wide Adult Safeguarding Board and Torfaen Public Service Board said the details of the case and additional multi-agency information were “thoroughly considered” by them between May and August 2020, six months before Williams’ trial began.
They said board agencies including Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Gwent Police and local authority leads concluded “due to the couple’s very limited involvement with services and an absence of any domestic abuse history, that a review would not take place as it was unlikely it would reveal multi-agency learning or actions to be taken forward”.
The spokesman added: “Domestic abuse remains a priority area for all service providers in Gwent, and we will continue to do all that we can to protect and reassure the vulnerable and those at risk of harm.”