It will aim to find any systemic gaps
Claire Chick(Image: PA)
A review is set to take place into the potential failings by the police and other authorities in the lead up to the murder of university lecturer Claire Chick.
A Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) is a statutory investigation under the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004) and is aimed at examining whether there were any systemic gaps in how local agencies – such as the police – acted before a victim was killed, with the aim of learning from it and addressing any failings made by professionals to ensure it does not happen again.
Safer Plymouth, a community safety partnership, has confirmed to Plymouth Live that it will be carrying out a DHR in relation to Claire, who repeatedly raised her concerns about the behaviour of her former husband Paul Butler, including his relentless stalking and threats.
Butler murdered 48-year-old Claire, a mother and grandmother, on January 22, 2025, stabbing her 23 times before fleeing the scene. He was arrested later that evening at a hotel in Liskeard. He pleaded guilty to the charge of murder and was handed a life sentence, with a minimum tariff of 26-years and 277 days.
His application to appeal his sentence was recently turned down.
Police officer on cordon just a few yards from where Claire Chick was fatally stabbed by Paul Butler on January 22, 2025(Image: Katie Oborn)
A Domestic Homicide Review was last held in Plymouth in 2019 following the murder of Kerry Power in 2013. Kerry first called police on November 28, 2013 with concerns about damage to her car.
Eight days later she complained that her ex-partner Wilder was stalking her, and she was visited by police the following day. She was murdered one week later after Wilder, having drunk between six to eight pints, broke into her home and attacked her.
The DHR into Kerry’s murder – produced by independent chair Dr Jane Monckton Smith, a forensic criminologist who specialises in domestic homicide and stalking and advises police forces on these issues – concluded that there was “enough known about [Wilder] to suggest he was a danger to [Kerry]. There were also opportunities to provide [Kerry] with safety advice; enhanced resources (from a high risk of harm assessment) and information about [Wilder] which may have helped her understand the risk he presented to her”.
Her report noted that there was “enough information to identify a pattern of stalking and escalating risk” and that information held by police “showed a history of abuse, as well as stalking, so revealing a pattern”.
Among the report’s recommendations to police were initial training for PCSO’s on understanding stalking and harassment risk assessment interview; incidents of perceived stalking to be reviewed by a duty Inspector and control room Sergeant; frontline officers to be reminded that “thorough research on victims and suspects must be undertaken” and domestic abuse risk assessment training to be part of the force’s wider safeguarding training plan.
In addition the report recommended that the force went “beyond awareness” and covered safety planning, safety advice, and knowledge of existing safety options like the silent solution.
(Image: Carl Eve/PlymouthLive)
Another recommendation noted: “Where a history of stalking or domestic abuse is revealed officers should consider the option of disclosing this history to a victim at risk. There is a process for this. Victims could be supported to understand the risks posed by repeat abusers.”
At the time Det Supt Ben Deer of Devon and Cornwall Police said the recommendations in the DHR had been addressed and work was being undertaken to “focus on stalking offenders and prevention of offending. Changes have been made and we believe that as a result, will reduce the likelihood of something like this ever happening again.”
A spokesperson for the force said in 2019: “We have implemented an overhaul in policy which has seen the Force adopt recommendations published within the HMIC ‘Living in Fear’ report published in 2017, which has led to improved early identification of risks and a better standard of service to victims of stalking.
“The Force also has the advocacy of a Violence Against Woman and Children Independent Advisory Group to call upon for support, learning and reflection.”
Earlier this year Prof Jane Monckton Smith OBE – who carried out the DHR into the murder of Kerry Power – told Plymouth Live Devon and Cornwall Police should have carried out “crucial” checks on 53-year-old Butler’s past when he was arrested for stalking Claire.
Prof Monckton-Smith is recognised for her ground-breaking work on coercive control and stalking. Her book “In Control: Dangerous Relationships and How They End in Murder” clearly lays out eight stages of a domestic homicide timeline used to flag up to police the potential for the coercively controlling to escalate their behaviour, concluding in homicide.
She told Plymouth Live that news reports of Butler’s 2007 trial for rape – for which he was found not guilty by a jury following trial – and the details of the circumstances leading up to and following Claire Chick’s murder should see all police forces begin to carry out “crucial and thorough checks on these highly dangerous offenders.”
During Butler’s sentencing it was revealed that Claire had made six statements to police, the first on September 26, 2024, with further statements on October 14 and 16. Additional statements were given after Butler placed a tracking device in her car – which he admitted to when arrested by police – and the sixth statement which Claire signed the day before her death, where she wrote “I only feel that Butler will kill me if further action is not taken. I am in fear of leaving my house.”
Claire’s murder prompted an immediate review into Devon and Cornwall Police’s active stalking cases and an investigation by the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) into Claire’s contact with the force before her murder along with the actions and decisions taken by officers.
In late January the IOPC confirmed that it had served fifteen police officers, two police staff members and one former officer, with misconduct and gross misconduct notices, who were involved in logging information, risk assessments and safeguarding decisions made about Ms Chick on a number of occasions from September 2024, until just prior to her murder.
Safer Plymouth has confirmed that a DHR will take place but as yet they cannot confirm a timetable.
