'Serious concerns' over GMP's handling of domestic abuse cases

Thousands of domestic violence victims are being failed by police forces across England and Wales due to "alarming and unacceptable weaknesses" in the way cases are investigated, inspectors have found.

Inspectors singled out Greater Manchester, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Gloucestershire Police forces as being of particularly serious concern, while hailing Lancashire Police as having the best response to domestic abuse.

In Greater Manchester, the 13-year-old daughter of a victim was asked to act as a language interpreter for officers investigating allegations against her father. Among its recommendations, HMIC has called for a national oversight and monitoring group to be set up by Government, chaired at a senior level.

In a damning report, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said only eight out of the 43 forces responded well to domestic abuse and the most vulnerable victims faced a "lottery" in the way their complaints were handled.

Poor attitudes, ineffective training and inadequate evidence-gathering were all heavily criticised by the watchdog, which has called for an urgent shake-up of the response to domestic abuse - from frontline officers up to police chiefs.

Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Sir Peter Fahy said: "I think the work we do is groundbreaking, and we are disappointed the report doesn't reflect that. We are also disappointed that it only looks at the police, because the way we deal with domestic violence in Greater manchester is that we deal with all the agencies."

Home Secretary Theresa May has announced she will chair a new national monitoring group, in response to one of the key recommendations made by the inspectors, to ensure every police force overhauls its approach to domestic violence.

Reacting to the findings, campaigners warned domestic violence was still treated as a second-class crime by police, while Labour demanded further action from the Home Secretary.