Safeguarding Board publishes review following domestic homicide & serious assault

The Island's Safeguarding Board has published a Serious Case Management Review (SCMR) following a domestic homicide and serious assault on Island.

It comes following the homicide of a mother and a serious assault on a father by their son who was suffering from a severe psychiatric condition.

The son was mentally unwell at the time of the incidents and was convicted for Manslaughter of his mother, and the attempted murder of his father - he remains in secure psychiatric care.

It's been revealed in the weeks leading up to the homicide, "Mrs K" and a friend of "Mark’s" had contacted mental health services on five occasions, concerned about his behaviour.

However, "Mark" did not engage in an assessment in the weeks leading up to the fatal incident.

In this case, it was documented the son had experienced multiple adverse experiences in his younger years; witnessing the domestic abuse of his mother, parental alcoholism, family instability and caring responsibilities.

The adults in the family at the centre of this review had longstanding issues with alcoholism and domestic abuse, and despite multiple agencies intervening or offering support - all were declined.

The review concludes while the assault on "Mr K" and killing of "Mrs K" could not have been predicted or prevented, there are areas of learning, which are fundamental to reducing the risk of 'poor outcomes' for others in the future.

It was also documented that the son was listed as a young carer for his disabled father, but this was not adequately recognised and there was a lack of professional curiosity about his day to day lived experience.

Further, the review highlights the significant impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in developing mental ill health.

As a result, it's recommended a ‘Think Family’ approach for services dealing with complex families.

The approach requires services to consider the impact of the experiences or events on all members of the household when dealing with issues such as domestic abuse or alcoholism.

The report states it's critical practitioners do not just focus on the experiences and perspectives of the victim and perpetrator but include all members of the family and household by having a ‘Think Family’ approach. 

It also makes recommendations to improve the measures in place to tackle domestic abuse, support and identify young carers and improve the sharing of information between agencies.

Specifically, the report made four recommendations to the safeguarding agencies that make up the Safeguarding Board.

 The Board have accepted the recommendations as set out in their response:

- The Isle of Man Safeguarding Board should assure itself that there are robust measures in place for responding to incidents of domestic abuse, including considering the risks and vulnerabilities of all people within the household, particularly children and young people.

- Manx Care should lead an awareness raising campaign about being a young carer. The campaign should target key services for children and young people.

- The Department of Health and Social Care, working in partnership with Manx Care, should assure there are robust processes in place to correctly identify an adult/child’s registered GP.

- The review should be shared with the Department of Home Affairs to inform the implementation of its Domestic Abuse strategy to address some of the concerns around multi-agency notification and risk assessments.