Theresa May rejects domestic violence inquiry despite regular deaths

The Home Secretary Theresa May has rejected demands for a public inquiry into the police’s handling of cases of domestic violence, which kills two women every week.

Mrs May wants a review by inspectors into how police respond to reports of such violence, but she said that a public inquiry would take too long.

The family of Maria Stubbings, murdered by her former partner after repeated failings by police to protect her, has led demands for a public inquiry. Ms Stubbings, 50, was killed in 2008 by Marc Chivers, who had previously served time in Germany for killing another woman.

“There are still too many women up and down the country who suffer from domestic abuse,” Mrs May told the BBC. “It’s better to be using the tools we have at the moment to make these changes rather than introducing a long, lengthy public inquiry.”

The domestic violence charity Refuge welcomed Mrs May’s plans for an inspection but said more needed to be done. “Refuge strongly believes that a public inquiry is needed to establish what is going wrong and why so many abused women are still losing their lives,” said chief executive Sandra Horley.