Durham Constabulary apologises to Domestic Abuse victim who says her trust in police has 'eroded'

• Watch Kris Jepson's report.

Durham Constabulary has apologised to a domestic abuse victim over its handling of her case after she told ITV News Tyne Tees her "trust in the police has eroded".

The force was told in November that it "requires improvement" on protecting vulnerable people, with His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary specifically highlighting areas of concern over how it handles domestic abuse cases.

The report stated that, although Durham has the highest number of repeat domestic abuse related crimes in England and Wales, its applications for domestic violence protection orders is far below the national average.

The new Chief Constable of Durham Constabulary told ITV News: "It’s really disappointing that we didn’t reach the standard that was expected of us and it is something that I’m taking a grip of immediately.

"What I would say is that we’ve already put some changes in place to improve that situation. We’ve introduced dedicated domestic abuse teams to make sure that we absolutely get that right and we are focussing our resources and attention into vulnerability, making sure that all of our areas of business, so I speak about neighbourhood policing, response, investigations, that they prioritise those domestic abuse victims who absolutely need our protection."

Domestic Abuse Victim

A County Durham woman, who claims she suffered a decade of domestic abuse at the hands of her ex partner, told ITV News she used to think the police were there to "protect" her, but now she sees them as the people who "ruined" her life.

We have called her 'Sian' to protect her identity. In October 2023, Sian was sent a review into the handling of her case by the force's Professional Standards Department. 

In the report, it concluded that the police's actions were "unacceptable" in nearly half of her 15 complaints.

These included:

• Failures to download and review mobile phone data showing alleged threats of violence

• Failures to talk to a witness, take statements and log evidence correctly

• Failure to conduct a timely investigation, causing her “unnecessary stress and anxiety” when she was at her “most vulnerable”

• Failure of a new officer on the case to re-review dictaphone audio evidence

• Being responsible for a data breach it described as being an “extremely serious matter”

Sian told ITV News: "I just got blanked. I got ghosted by someone who was supposed to be there for us when I was most vulnerable. I wouldn’t get emails replied to for months on end, if at all. 

"For me, the biggest let down was the loss of evidence. I had a telephone at the time that had about eight years worth of messages between me and my ex. Among those messages were death threats, threats of violence, threats to burn the house down. Things that would’ve been incredibly incriminating and would’ve supported a prosecution… but for 18 months I asked “are you coming for my phone?” And they never did."

After she had been told her case would have No Further Action (NFA), she claimed an officer brought back a dictaphone to her house in an evidence bag, but what she found in there shocked her.

She said: "I put my hand in the bag and found a pen drive at the bottom of it… When I plugged it in, up pops evidence from another case. CCTV footage from a robbery, so it had nothing to do with me. It wasn’t my evidence, which meant there’d been quite the data breach."

She said going through an investigation that she felt was not being handled correctly took its toll on her mental health, adding: "I took an overdose, because I knew that it wasn’t going anywhere. The way it had been dealt with so far. The failings so far. I knew that time was being lost, evidence wasn’t being collected and then I would have to live with my ex being able to walk around. I felt like I was the criminal and my abuser was the one being protected."

Durham Constabulary said: "We absolutely accept that, in this case, we didn’t get it right and we would like to apologise to ‘Sian’.

"These allegations of domestic abuse were investigated, were sent to the CPS and it was deemed there was insufficient evidence to take the case to court.

"A review has since been carried out by our Professional Standards Department into the handling of that case, which concluded that elements of the investigation were unacceptable. Our response to ‘Sian’ wasn’t good enough in a number of respects and we fully acknowledge that.”

Domestic Abuse Commissioner

The Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Nicole Jacobs, has analysed the latest crime data published by the ONS and found that the number of domestic abuse related crimes has more than doubled since 2016 in England and Wales, with police referrals to the CPS reducing by 20 per cent since 2019 and convictions going down by 25 percent during the same period.

She told ITV News the inspection report on Durham raises concerns, claiming: "Only about 1 in 5 victims will even contact the police, so the people who are offering the police evidence and saying ‘please look at this information, please let me show you’, this should be obvious to any force that these are people that need prioritisation.

"We know that serious harm, you know, the highest risk for domestic abuse is this repeated stalking, harassment, points of separation, all of the things that seem to be indicated in this case, so I think the Peel inspection of Durham Police echoes this as well, that there needs to be a much greater prioritisation and importance given, and that is all about leadership."

She is calling on the government to ensure all 43 forces in England and Wales conduct domestic abuse cases in a more "consistent" way, adding: "We need to see greater consistency and the way to do that is to drive it from the top and I’ve said this to the Home Secretary and I would like all PCCs, all Chief Constables to be really working towards that consistent response."

Durham Constabulary said of the Peel Report: "The HMIC report has highlighted what we need to do better and are taking steps to improve our response to victims of domestic abuse.

"The force has invested in specialist safeguarding teams, which have a key focus on domestic offending; over the last year we have almost doubled the number of Domestic Violence Prevention Orders we apply to the courts for, and there has been a significant increase in the number of cases we have taken to Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences. We are improving and we would strongly urge anyone who has been victim of domestic abuse to report it to us. You will be listened to and we will do all we can to help you”.

The Home Office told ITV News the Government has "gone further" than ever before to protect domestic abuse victims and is committed to "ensuring forces raise the bar" in protecting victims.

A spokesperson said: "We have classified violence against women and girls as a national threat, setting clear expectations for how the police should respond, as well as providing funding for forces to complete specialist domestic abuse training. We will continue to work closely with the police and CPS to bring more criminals to justice.”