Page 4 - TSAB Board Minutes - 23 September 2019

This document was classified as: OFFICIAL

Jill Harrison (JH) commented that it is difficult when the Local Authority does not commission a home but
other out of area LAs place people there. The Local Authority only becomes aware of issues if a
Safeguarding Concern is raised and it seems to be a very reactive process and difficult to coordinate as
the residents are not known to the Council.

It is not known why the reporter specifically targeted Whorlton Hall for their undercover investigation.

AB suggested that the Board discusses what this case highlights for the Tees area at the next meeting.

Due to the confidential nature of this section some of the content has been removed for publication
Action Points Action Owner Deadline
1. Whorlton Hall and what this means for the Tees area to be All 25/10/19
discussed at the next meeting

Agenda Item 4 Domestic Homicides of People Aged 60 and Presenter: Hannah Bows
Over in the UK
Hannah Bows, Assistant Professor in Criminal Law at Durham Law School gave a presentation on
Domestic Homicides of Older People. The following key points were raised:
 Since 2015 there has been an increase in domestic homicides
 HB has researched the profiles of perpetrators and victims based on gender, age, relationship
between the victim and perpetrator, locations of offence etc.
 National statistics show that young men kill other young men and are often acquaintances,
strangers and the offence often taking place in public spaces or the victim’s home
 National statistics show that women killed by men in their own home almost always have a history
of domestic abuse or have experienced stalking
 Through HB’s research she has identified that data is obscured as it is not often collected on the
older age bracket. The National Crime Survey excludes people older than 59 or only asks them
about particular types of crime – for example they are not asked about domestic abuse or stalking.
The findings from this survey helps to inform where the government focuses policies and
resources. There is an assumption that the older an offender becomes their crimes stop after a
certain age – this is not the case.
 There are 2 million people aged over 60 years old living in England and Wales – the National
Crime Survey misses out this whole section of people
 The prison system is dealing with an increasing number of older people or young people growing
older in prisons – the prisons are built around younger lifestyles and there is very little awareness
or policies around older people in prison.
 There can sometimes be a misconception that domestic abuse only affects young women, this is
not the case, but there is minimal publically available data to show domestic homicide reviews
undertaken on older people.
 HB posed 3 questions to 46 Police Forces
o What is the extent and nature of homicides involving a victim aged 60 and over in the UK?
o Is homicide of older people different to younger people?
o How do these findings compare with ‘eldercide’ literature?
 HB also analysed 514 cases between 2010 – 2015 but focused on 221 Domestic Homicides and
discovered that 1 in 4 of Domestic Homicides involved a victim over 60

HB highlighted that some risk assessments are not tailored to incorporate older people, for example the
Domestic Abuse Stalking and Honour Based Violence (DASH) risk assessment. The DASH is a checklist
that scores people’s risk. One of the questions for example is ‘have you been pregnant in the last 12
months?’, for an older person it is likely for the answer to be ‘no’. The DASH risk assessment only focuses
on the risk of abuse from an intimate partner, but research shows that family members are just as likely
to be the perpetrator of abuse or homicide, in particular a son or a grandson.

HB felt that more work needs to be done to recognise domestic abuse as an ‘all age’ issue and that ‘elder
abuse’ is not a different form of abuse. Domestic Abuse polices, strategies, frameworks and safeguarding
needs to incorporate older people.
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