Birmingham Murder Could Have Been Prevented

West Midlands Police have told Capital that they have changed the way they deal with domestic violence cases after a report found that the murder of a mum of three in Birmingham could have been prevented.

22 year old Natasha Trevis was killed in August 2012 by her children’s father. He was jailed for life and given 22 years behind bars.

A review into the case has made 44 recommendations for change involving a number of agencies including West Midlands Police and  Birmingham City Council.

The city council have said in a statement that since the review began, there have been major changes in Birmingham's response to safeguarding adults and children from domestic violence. Birmingham Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub has also been established as the first port of call for anyone with a child safeguarding concern.

West Midlands Police have set up dedicated domestic abuse teams, undertaking widespread training across the force and re-focussing their attention on taking action against dangerous domestic violence offenders.

ACC Garry Forsyth, Chair of the Birmingham Community Safety Partnership, said: "We note the report's conclusion and would like to express our condolences to the family members and friends of the victim in this tragic case.

"We recognise that we must be responsible for doing everything we can to protect adults regardless of whether we have the support of the individuals themselves.

"We will ensure that learning from this domestic homicide review is shared with all staff across all agencies and embedded into daily practice. This includes better use of all our systems to enable us to be more effective in alerting officers to a domestic abuse threat or someone at risk.

"Anyone who is experiencing physical, emotional or psychological abuse is urged to contact police or another agency. As a partnership we can offer specialist advice, support and guidance so that they can break free from abusive relationships."