Written by: Christiane Rabenstein, PNLD Legal Adviser
Not reviewed after the date of publication - 25 November 2024
Recently in the news, the case of a 15-year old girl murdered by an obsessed ex-boyfriend raised the question whether the age limits regarding domestic abuse were appropriate and whether the case should have been treated as domestic abuse. Under current law, the victim and the perpetrator must be aged 16 or over for it to be deemed a crime of domestic abuse. PNLD Legal Adviser Christiane Rabenstein looks at some legal issues related to this case.
Background
Logan MacPhail, then 16, stabbed Holly Newton 36 times after stalking her for an hour in January 2023. He had a history of harming himself with a knife and claimed to have carried the knife to kill himself, admitted manslaughter, saying he had blacked out, but denied murder. This was rejected by the jury who found him guilty of murder for which he received a life sentence with a minimum term of 17 years at Newcastle Crown Court.
Logan MacPhail had autism and learning difficulties and had witnessed and experienced domestic violence as a child. Holly Newton tried to help him with learning to read. After meeting at army cadets, they had been together for 18 months and he was described as mild-mannered and polite during regular visits to her home. But he changed when she decided to end the relationship, MacPhail clearly not being able to accept that the relationship was over. He then made her believe he could hack into her social media accounts and threatened self-harm, constantly messaging her and ringing her multiple times a day; the night before the murder he travelled to her home and spent hours trying to convince a sibling to let him into the house, when aware of this the next morning, the family contacted the police.
Holly Newton’s mother, Micala Trussler, is campaigning for the age a person can legally be recognised as a domestic abuse victim to be lowered, arguing that her daughter was a victim of domestic abuse but because of her age her death will not be recorded as a domestic homicide but as knife crime. She said that young people are getting into relationships earlier and need support that they cannot access because by law they are not regarded as victims of domestic abuse until the age of 16, with many children not even realising that their relationships are abusive. Support services say that high numbers of young people from the age of 12 are being referred who are already in abusive relationships.
The Law
Domestic abuse is not a specific offence as such, but a term describing a range of behaviour and can apply to various offences ranging from assault, sexual offences, stalking and harassment to communication offences under the Online Safety Act 2023. ‘Domestic abuse’ is defined in section 1 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (“the 2021 Act”) as behaviour of a person (‘A’) towards another person (‘B’) if A and B are each aged 16 or over and are personally connected to each other, and the behaviour is ‘abusive’ if it consists of any of the following: physical or sexual abuse; violent or threatening behaviour; controlling or coercive behaviour; economic abuse; psychological, emotional or other abuse; and it does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct.
‘Personally connected’ means, for example, that two people are, or have been married or engaged to each other or civil partners, in an intimate relationship with each other, relatives or parents of the same child (for details see section 2 of the 2021 Act).
Children, i.e. persons under the age of 18, are catered for in section 3 of the 2021 Act in that they are regarded as victims of domestic abuse where behaviour of A towards B is domestic abuse and the child sees or hears, or experiences the effects of, the abuse and the child is related to A or B; and a child is related for this purpose if the person is a parent of, or has parental responsibility for, the child or the child and the person are relatives. Section 3 came fully into force on 31st January 2022 and children would therefore be considered victims of domestic abuse under the Act in their own right where, for example, the child’s mother is being abused by a partner, as opposed to abuse directed against the child which would be child abuse rather than domestic abuse. Again, this does not create additional offences in relation to domestic abuse. Children affected by domestic abuse in that way are treated as victims, even where not present during violent incidents, see CPS guidance, and prosecutors should be made aware of any children living with or frequently visiting the address of a domestic abuse suspect. Other organisations may be aware, such as schools and social services; family proceedings may be taking place and the impact on children is also relevant in assessing the public interest test.
For comprehensive guidance on domestic abuse, issued by the Home Office under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, see the link in the notes on section 84.
Teenage relationship abuse
It is recognised that abuse can happen between young people. Abusive behaviour between young people may include similar incidents and patterns as between adults, though it may include more use of social media and monitoring of online activity. As it will often occur outside the domestic setting, victims may not realise that they are subject to domestic abuse. However, cases of teenage relationship abuse where children under the age of 16 are themselves the persons ‘A’ or ‘B’ would not be considered domestic abuse under the 2021 Act but would be considered child abuse as a matter of law where the victim is under 16. Child-to-parent abuse is also not covered by the statutory definition of domestic abuse.
The consequences of this are not only relevant just for statistical purposes. Whether behaviour is regarded as domestic abuse under the 2021 Act impacts, for example, on the time limit for prosecution for common assault and battery, see section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 which increases this time limit.
The current age limit of 16 years also restricts the use of the new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders under Part 3 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021; these are due to be introduced in pilot areas (two regions, the South London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton and Bromley and Greater Manchester, as well as British Transport Police) on 27th November 2024 and give the police another tool to deal with abusive behaviour aiming at providing a simpler, more comprehensive and more flexible protection order regime for the victims of domestic abuse. (See further Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Orders).These notices/orders can only be given to a person aged 18 or over; but they would currently also not be applicable where the victim is younger than 16. Direct protection of children of that age will be through orders under the Children Act.
It should also be noted that regardless of the age of the victim and the suspect, the CPS guidance advises to flag and apply that guidance to all domestic abuse cases.
Outlook
Young women aged between the ages of 16 and 24 are most at risk of being victims of domestic abuse. In the light of the murder of Holly Newton, it is now being considered to lower the age limit in section 1 of the 2021 Act. Until 2012, the age limit had been 18 and as a first step was lowered to 16 after a public consultation recognising that younger people can experience abuse in relationships. Another government consultation on “Transforming the Response to Domestic Abuse” took place in 2018 resulting in the 2021 Act; while it was recognised that those under 16 can be victims of domestic abuse either in their own relationships or as a result of abuse in the home, there was strong support for keeping the age limit of 16 due to concerns of blurring the lines between domestic abuse and child abuse and the impact this would have on the delivery of child protection and safeguarding procedures.
Following the murder of Holly Newton, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, agreed to look at the age at which people can be considered domestic abuse victims, referring to increasing violence within teenage relationships and to ensure that such offences against women and girls are recorded properly and action is being taken against it.
A final word
It is essential to educate young people about what is normal behaviour and how to identify toxic relationships and making parents and teachers aware of the potential signs and impact of such behaviour. Many children may not even realise that behaviour is abusive and consider it normal as that is what they are used to or do not know any different. Holly Newton’s step-father, Lee Trussler believes that Holly would have ended the relationship sooner had she known what to look out for. While informing young people will mainly be within the remit of schools, families and supporting organisations and outside the regular work of the police, it has to be acknowledged that, as with domestic abuse between adults, abusive behaviour may occur in relationships between teenagers, behaviour which may become more frequent and more serious, even resulting in death, as in the case of Holly Newton. It is therefore important to recognise and deal with any early signs of abuse, whatever the age of the persons involved and whether it is regarded as ‘domestic abuse’ in law or treated as child abuse.
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