Offensive weapons homicide reviews
Documents and guidance relating to offensive weapons homicide reviews.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 introduced a requirement on the police and local authorities in England and Wales and integrated care boards in England and local health boards in Wales, to review the circumstances of certain homicides where:
- the victim was aged 18 or over
- the events surrounding their death involved, or were likely to have involved, the use of an offensive weapon
Guidance
Oversight board
The oversight board has been established to monitor and oversee the local implementation of the reviews.
Reports
Under section 28(7) of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 the Secretary of State must publish or make arrangements for the publication of the report unless it is considered inappropriate to do so. To meet this requirement, the Home Office will ensure that OWHR reports are published and so made publicly available. For the OWHR pilot, all of the reports will be published on this page, providing a single source of OWHR reports for England and Wales. OWHRs carried out in Wales under the single unified safeguarding review (SUSR) process will also be published in the Wales Safeguarding Repository as part of the SUSR process, and on the relevant Regional Safeguarding Board website.
On 8 May 2025, the first report from the pilot was published. This was commissioned by the Birmingham Community Safety Partnership.
On 15 May 2025, the second report from the pilot was published. This was commissioned by the Cwm Taf Community Safety Partnership.
Updates to this page
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Added the second report from the pilot, commissioned by the Cwm Taf Community Safety Partnership.
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First report published.
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First published.