'Alarming weaknesses' in domestic violence policing

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.

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 overhaul of the response to domestic abuse - from frontline officers up to police chiefs.