Natasha Trevis murder: agencies missed chances to intervene – report
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Version 0 of 1. The murder of a young mother-of-three who was stabbed to death by her abusive partner could have been prevented if child protection agencies had listened to and acted on her fears and concerns, a report has concluded. A domestic homicide review into the death of Natasha Trevis, 22, found that chances were missed to step in before Junior Saleem Oakes stabbed her 29 times as they travelled in the back of a taxi in Birmingham. According to the review, Oakes had come to the notice of the police 25 times before the murder. He had assaulted a previous partner four times and threatened to kill her. He had also been found in possession of knives and was once reported to police for having a gun. Trevis and Oakes began a relationship before her 18th birthday. He attacked her on a string of occasions and the children were all made subjects of protection plans because of the violent and abusive relationship. But Trevis’s family told the review team that they were ignorant of Oakes’s past and believed that if professionals had shared what they knew about him with Trevis she might have made different decisions about their relationship. “They were surprised that the agencies involved with the victim had been aware of the same information all along, yet had not shared some of it with the extended family,” the report said. Family members also expressed concern that Oakes was allowed to attend child protection meetings. “They questioned the wisdom of this arrangement as they believed that the victim would only say what she felt that the perpetrator would allow her to say. Their view was that he controlled and intimidated her.” In addition, the review highlighted a worrying incident shortly before the murder after Trevis started living away from Oakes in a hostel. She had not wanted Oakes to know she had undergone an abortion, but a social worker asked her about it within earshot of the killer. The review, which looked at the actions of social workers, police and health professionals, concluded that it could have been possible to prevent the death of the victim as there were “missed opportunities by the agencies providing services to the family to intervene when risks to Natasha’s wellbeing should have been apparent”. It added: “If the work had been carried out across the agencies in accordance with good practice and the requirements in place in agencies at the time, it might have been possible to prevent the death of the victim, and thus the loss of their mother for the children. This statement is not made with just the benefit of hindsight but with the knowledge arising from the review, that there were a number of missed opportunities and that some decisions made about the service delivery to the victim were seriously flawed.” A total of 44 recommendations containing 87 actions are made in the review across the involved agencies. Most of the actions have already been completed, according to Birmingham community safety partnership. There have also been major changes in Birmingham’s response to safeguarding adults and children from domestic violence. Oakes has been jailed for life for the murder, which took place in August 2012, and told he must serve 22 years in prison before being considered for parole. |