Women murdered/believed murdered by a stranger from January 2011 to June 2022

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.025457

I note you seek access to the following information:

- Please provide details of all women murdered or believed to have been murdered by a stranger in the last 10 years?
- Please provide a breakdown by date and location. I'd like to see ethnicity, age, and if possible an indication of employment.
- An indication of whether anyone was charged and/or convicted of murder would be useful too.

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 30(1) - Investigations
Section 38(1) - Health and Safety
Section 40(2) - Personal Information

Reason for decision

Under Section 30(1)(a)(i) of the Act, Public Authorities are able to withhold information if it has, at any time, been held by the authority for the purposes of an investigation with a view to it being ascertained whether a person should be charged with an offence.

Under Section 38(1)(a) of the Act, Public Authorities are able to withhold information if it’s disclosure would, or would be likely to, endanger the physical or mental health of any individual.

Having considered your request, I have refused to release correlated data (date, exact location, ethnicity and age) for each victim.

Our searches produced low numbers and some of these records are relatively recent. This is a request for information which if released in full could identify individuals linked to murder investigations, this could put in jeopardy an undetected investigation and would cause undue distress to those who formed part of the investigations.

Section 30(1) Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities.
Section 38(1)(a) Health and Safety-
Section 40(2)(a)(b) and Section 40(3)(a)(i) - Personal Information

The details of victims of crime are held by the MPS for the purpose of recording and investigating criminal offences. Information that has been obtained by the MPS for this purpose, is retained upon the understanding that its use will be limited to the criminal investigation and/or any related proceedings.

The MPS will, during the course of an investigation, release details about an offence, including the name of the victim, to progress the investigation. These are operational decisions that are made in the interests of the investigation. It would be inappropriate to release the specific details of victims of homicide, given that this information was obtained and is held for the purpose of a criminal investigation, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Each investigation could therefore be subject to review and further investigation at any stage. The public interest remains in ensuring that no action is taken whilst the homicide is unsolved that could prejudice the outcome of the investigation.

When a member of the public dies, the family of the deceased are likely to be distressed for a considerable period of time. When that death is not attributable to natural causes, the distress caused can be greater and on the rare occasion that the cause death is murder, that distress can be even more severe. In homicide cases, it is common that close family members never get over the loss of their loved one. This sense of loss can extend to the wider family and to close friends. In homicide investigations, the MPS has an ongoing duty of care to the families of the deceased.

The public release of date, exact location, ethnicity and age of each homicide victims outside of a criminal investigation could lead to the families of the deceased being subjected to unsolicited approaches by the media. These family members may wish to retain their anonymity. It is also possible that the release of this information could lead to journalists forcing family members and friends to re-live their loss in the public eye. Ultimately the public release of the details of victims of homicide would be insensitive, risk distress to the family members and friends of the deceased and may result in a loss of confidence in the MPS to protect the well-being of the families and friends of homicide victims.

When a request for information is made, I must determine whether exemptions should be claimed and in the case of exemptions that are qualified, establish whether release is in the public interest. Having considered your request, I have chosen to claim Section 30 (Investigations and Proceedings Conducted by Public Authorities) of the Act, in view of the fact that the requested information of homicide victims are held by the MPS for the purpose of a criminal investigation. I have also claimed Section 38 (Health and Safety) of the Act as the release of requested information would be likely to adversely affect the mental well-being of the victim’s family and close friends.

Having identified and considered the factors relevant to the public interest, I have carefully examined the importance of transparency with the general public. The MPS is committed to transparency with the general public and recognises that greater transparency is likely to improve public confidence in the MPS. For this reason, I have attached particular weight to this public interest factor.

Having carefully considered your request, I have found that the release of information that could cause distress to the families of the deceased and/or could prejudice an unsolved investigation, to be particularly persuasive reasons to refuse your request. On balance, I believe that these public interest factors support refusing your request. For this reason, I have refused your request for information.

Disclosure

Attached is a spreadsheet containing uncorrelated data with the location as boroughs.