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BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Investigations
BBCA lady who fled an abusive courting stated she needed to barricade herself into her rented house each and every evening for greater than six months, as a result of her council left her with a damaged door lock.
Jane – now not her actual identify – must have had additional house safety, referred to as goal hardening “within a couple of working days” of being classed as top possibility, consistent with govt pointers.
North Kesteven District Council admitted a “significant failing” and presented Jane £100 in reimbursement for failing to safe her house in a well timed means.
The home abuse commissioner for England and Wales stated “patchy” goal hardening supposed many sufferers had been “living in daily fear” in their abuser turning up at their house. The govt stated it used to be expanding home abuse investment.
Since 2021, native government have had a criminal accountability to ensure home abuse sufferers have a protected position to reside.
It manner maximum councils in England now run a sanctuary scheme, which contains putting in goal hardening at a sufferer’s house, once they now not reside with their abuser.
The measures – akin to alarm techniques, additional locks, and fire-proof letterboxes – must be fitted “as soon as possible” following a possibility review, consistent with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
‘I used to be shaking’
Jane, from Lincolnshire, stated she have been informed to be expecting additional safety after leaving her accomplice in May 2024, which incorporated solving a damaged lock. However, delays in finishing the paintings left her residing in “terror”.
She stated she used to be “completely failed” by means of the council, and didn’t sleep correctly for 6 months as her patio door didn’t lock.
“Every time I looked at the door, it made me feel sick,” stated Jane.
“One night, there was a bang outside and I was shaking in the kitchen, I was retching in the sink, because I was terrified he was there and was about to come in and murder me.”
It turned into a nightly regimen for Jane to “barricade” her sliding patio door with home goods, akin to chairs, tables and an ironing board.
Until November 2024 she stated she spent her evenings in silence, listening for any signal of her ex-partner outdoor.
“I felt completely unsafe. It was horrific,” stated Jane.
Women are maximum liable to being killed by means of their ex-partner within the first month after leaving an abusive courting, consistent with statistics from the Femicide Census.
“That fact that Jane waited so long put her life at risk,” stated Claire Chamberlain, who runs home abuse organisation Clear Path UK.
The home abuse commissioner, Dame Nicole Jacobs, stated goal hardening used to be a “postcode lottery”, and a few sufferers had been being “driven into homelessness” as it used to be changing into “too dangerous” to stick of their properties.
“This is simply not good enough,” she stated.
Caroline Vincent, 50, from Chapel St Leonards, is asking for exchange and believes her daughter and grandson may nonetheless be alive lately if that they had been presented goal hardening.
Bethany Vincent, 26, and her nine-year-old son Darren Henson, referred to as DJ, had been murdered at their house in Louth, in 2021.
They had been stabbed to loss of life by means of Bethany’s ex-partner, Daniel Boulton, who had walked 28 miles (45km) from a homeless hostel in Skegness, regardless of being underneath a restraining order.
A assessment into their deaths discovered there have been “little work” by means of businesses to focus on harden Bethany’s house.
The assessment stated there have been “obvious warning signs” Boulton used to be a “high risk” to Bethany and DJ, given his historical past of home abuse-related offences.
“No one came round and checked her property for her, even though he’d tried to break in before,” stated Ms Vincent.
“They knew what he could be capable of, and if things were put in place it would be a totally different outcome.
“Not sufficient is being executed. It makes me so offended that ladies are nonetheless being put in peril.”
Bethany’s council, East Lindsey District Council, did not respond to a request for comment.
FacebookThe Local Government Association is calling for the government to provide sufficient funding for target hardening to make sure “reinforce reaches those that want it maximum, directly”.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing said: “We are expanding home abuse investment to councils by means of £30m this yr in order that sufferers can get the reinforce they want in protected, safe lodging and we predict councils to ship this.”
Campaigner Emma Storey, chief executive of the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA), said she was aware of the “demanding situations” facing the sector.
Ms Storey said in some cases there were issues making contact with landlords, and also problems gaining permission for target hardening works, despite efforts to persuade them it was a “sure” step.
- If you have got been suffering from problems on this record there’s lend a hand and recommendation at BBC Action Line
DAHA has made a toolkit, recognised by means of the Home Office, which units out steps native government can take to support their reaction to housing for sufferers.
But not all local authorities have signed up.
In a letter to Jane, seen by the BBC, North Kesteven District Council said it could not offer any explanation for the delay in installing her extra security.
“There has obviously been an important failure inside of our processes that has resulted in the works now not being undertaken in a suitable time frame and resulted on this unacceptable stage of carrier,” the letter stated.
The council said it would carry out a review of its procedures, and also apologised for a “loss of verbal exchange” with Jane, who had made repeated calls for the target hardening works to be done.
In a further statement, to the BBC, the council said sometimes delays were because of a lack of available contractors. It added that target hardening does not cover all home repairs that might need doing.
Jane also raised her concerns over the council’s delays, with the domestic abuse commissioner.
In a letter seen by the BBC, the commissioner’s office described Jane’s case as “appalling” and said it had raised “severe considerations”.
Jane said living in constant fear had affected her job, her mental health and her relationships with other people.
“I don’t need anyone to move in the course of the terror that I had for 6 months,” she stated.
“I should not have needed to be in combat or flight mode when goal hardening is supposed to be there to stop this taking place.”
