New report profiles victims and suspects in family killings during Covid

Harriet Ernstsons-Evans • September 7, 2021

Trigger warning: this blog looks in-depth at a report covering adult family homicide cases, including profiles of victims and suspects, and risk factors. Please don’t read this blog if you feel you may be distressed by its contents

Deaths resulting from domestic abuse of all kinds have been tracked for a year during the pandemic as part of a special report.

The study was led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing in association with the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme, and includes those who died as a direct result of domestic abuse or by suicide as a consequence of the abuse.

One of the categories of death which the report considers in detail is adult family homicide – which accounted for 18% of all of the cases which were looked at by the experts (intimate partner homicides accounted for 49%, suspected victim suicide 18%, child death 12% and other 3%).

There are a number of differences highlighted between the profiles of both victims and suspects in adult family homicides (which includes where the victim is the parent, grandparent, sibling or other relation of the suspect) which will hopefully support police and other organisations responsible for prevention, intervention, and prosecution where necessary.

These differences include:

Half of victims of adult family homicide were male, compared to only 15% of intimate partner homicide victims.
Victims are likely to be older when killed by a family member – 43% were aged over 65 (that age category accounted for only 18% of all cases).
Where the ethnicity of the victim was known, 24% overall were from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Groups compared to 30% of adult family homicide victims.
Suspects were likely to be younger in adult family homicide cases – 60% were aged 16 to 34.
At the time the cases were reviewed for the report, 63% of suspects had been charged (the overall charge rate was 43%).

The experts concluded the likely profile of a suspect in these types of cases was an adult male killing a parent, grandparent or sibling.

There are, of course, many risk factors when it comes to domestic abuse deaths – and there are many complications when considering what makes a person likely to commit this type of crime.

However, the five most prevalent risk factors across all the cases researched for the report were:

1. The suspect had been previously been abusive (44% of all cases) – this was more likely in an adult family homicide where many were known to police for family abuse and/or intimate partner abuse.

2. The suspect had a mental health condition (36% of all cases) – again this was more prevalent for adult family homicide where many suspects were known to mental health services or had previously been an inpatient at a mental health facility.

3. They had previously displayed controlling or coercive behaviour to the victim (28% of all cases).

4. Suspect was known to misuse alcohol (23% of all cases).

5. Suspect was known to misuse drugs (20% of all cases) - again this was more common for adult family homicide cases.

While the report suggests current tools such as DASH and DARA which are used to identify risks do not need to be replaced, it does highlight the need for a review to see if they are fit for purpose when it comes to adult family abuse.

Click here to see the full report.

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