FOI Restraining Order Breaches (0178-2022/23)

Request

1. The number of restraining orders, non-molestation orders, domestic violence protection notices/orders that were issued/granted for domestic violent/abuse incidents including stalking and harassment, in each of the calendar years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
2. The number of breaches of restraining orders, non-molestation orders, domestic violence protection notices/orders for domestic violent/abuse incidents including stalking and harassment, in each of the calendar years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
3. The number of arrests, convictions and sentences for breaching restraining orders, non-molestation orders, domestic violence protection notices/orders for domestic violent/abuse incidents including stalking and harassment, in each of the calendar years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
4. The number of reported domestic violence incidents following breaches to restraining orders, non-molestation orders, domestic violence protection notices and orders for domestic violent/abuse including stalking and harassment, in each of the calendar years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
5. How many domestic homicides involved previous breaches of restraining orders, non-molestation orders, domestic violence protection notices and orders for domestic violent/abuse including stalking and harassment involving the same offender and complainant/victim?

Please give figures for each of the calendar years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Please breakdown the number and type of breaches by domestic homicide case.

Response

Extent of Searches to Locate Information

Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police to locate relevant information. 

Decision

I am not obliged to provide you with a response to your request pursuant to Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please note that when one part of your request falls under Section 12, we are not obliged to review the rest of the questions and the whole request is therefore exempt.

Section 12(1) applies to your request as the cost of complying with your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of identifying and retrieving any relevant information exceeds the ‘appropriate level’ as stated in the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.

Due to the nature of our recording systems the information requested, if held, is not in an easily retrievable format. Our data retrieval process usually involves computer generated reports which identify information held within specific fields, where the data is held further within the record a manual read is required to gather that data. Parts 1 – 4 of your request require manual reads due to the restraining order element. Restraining orders are applied for by the CPS on conviction and are not independently recorded by North Yorkshire Police. This manual read would not be possible within the time allowed under the Act. If you remove the restraining order element we may be able to provide more information as detailed below.

Q1. Due to the way in which non-molestation orders are issued we cannot answer this question without a manual read of all crimes, which would exceed the time limit allowed under the Act.

Q2. In relation to breaches of non-molestation orders in domestic related cases, by definition non-molestation orders are only issued when the victim and the offender are in a ‘domestic relationship’ and therefore inadvertently any breach would be domestic related. We may be able to provide you with information in relation to breaches of non-molestation orders and DVPO’s.

Q3. We may be able to provide the arrest data for this question however we cannot provide conviction and sentencing data within the time allowed under the Act.

Q4. As there is no specific field for incidents following a breach we cannot answer this question without a manual read of all crimes, which would exceed the time limit allowed under the Act.

Q5. Depending on the number of reports we may be able to provide the number of domestic homicides following a breach of a non-molestation order or DVPO.

Pursuant to Section 17(5) of the Freedom of Information Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice.

Pursuant to Section 16 of the Act I am required to offer you advice and assistance with regarding to refining your request to within the ‘appropriate limit’ (time/cost limit). However, we may be able to provide some of the information you require if you refine your request. If you wish to discuss this please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.