Children killed in domestic abuse cases from January 2012 to October 2021
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.21.021811
I note you seek access to the following information:
Please can you provide details of any recorded incidents under 18s have been killed or seriously injured in cases with a domestic abuse motivation in the last 10 years, 2011-2021.
I'd like to get a table containing a breakdown by case specifying:
1. All incidents where a child was killed in a case with a domestic abuse motivation.
2. All incidents where a child was seriously injured in a case with a domestic abuse motivation.
3. Age of the child.
4. Gender of the child.
5. Type of violence or injury to the child.
6. How many times police had been previously alerted to domestic abuse in the home in each case.
7. An indication of any of these incidents occurring during lockdown periods.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:
Section 40(2)&(3) – Personal Information
Reason for decision
Section 40(2)&(3) – Personal Information - Under Section 40(2) and (3) of the Act, Public Authorities are able to withhold information where its release would identify any living individual and breach the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). Disclosure at this level of detail would breach the 1st Data Protection Principle that requires personal data to be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to individuals.
There is no presumption of disclosure in relation to ‘personal data’ which is defined as: ‘any information relating to an identified or identifiable living individual’
“Identifiable living individual” means a living individual who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to -
(a) an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data or an online identifier, or
(b) one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of the individual.’
For such disclosure to be lawful, it would be necessary to satisfy a condition within Article 6 of the GDPR. Article 6 sets out the six lawful bases, applying to all processing; one of which must be in place in every case of disclosure of personal data under FOIA, in accordance with the First Data Protection Principle.
A Freedom of Information Act request is not a private transaction. Both the request itself, and any information disclosed, are considered suitable for open publication. This is because, under Freedom of Information, any information disclosed is released into the wider public domain, effectively to the world and not just to one individual.
The Section 40 Exemption applies to the following questions:
Q1 - All incidents where a child was killed in a case with a domestic abuse motivation.
A1 – Due to low numbers, we are unable to provide a response to this question as this may lead to the identification of individuals.
Q2 - All incidents where a child was seriously injured in a case with a domestic abuse motivation.
Q3 - Age of the child.
Q4 - Gender of the child.
A2, 3 & 4 – We have provided total annual figures because any further breakdown could lead to the identification of individuals.
Q5 - Type of violence or injury to the child.
A5 – Offences have been grouped to avoid identification of individuals.
Q6 - How many times police had been previously alerted to domestic abuse in the home in each case.
A6 – Please note that this information is not held. This is because data on repeat victimisation is not held, therefore information on whether police had been previously alerted to domestic abuse cannot be provided.
Q7 - An indication of any of these incidents occurring during lockdown periods.
A7 – Due to low numbers we have provided a total figure and are unable to provide any further breakdown as this may lead to the identification of individuals.
Disclosure
Q2 - All incidents where a child was seriously injured in a case with a domestic abuse motivation.
Q3 - Age of the child.
Q4 - Gender of the child.
| Dates | Females 16 Years | Females 17 Years | Males 16 Years | Males 17 Years |
| 2012 – October 2021 | 20 | 61 | 8 | 17 |
Please Note: For cases of Domestic Abuse, data can only be provided for victims aged 16 & 17 in specific relationships; children under the age of 16 are not included in the Home Office definition of Domestic Abuse.
Q5 - Type of violence or injury to the child.
A total of 106 incidents were recorded for the period 01/1/2011 – 31/10/2021. These included: Arson; Criminal Damage; Robbery; Sexual Offences; Violence against the Person.
Q7 - An indication of any of these incidents occurring during lockdown periods.
A total of 22 incidents were recorded during the ‘Lockdown period’ (May 2020 – October 2021).