Police’s domestic abuse campaign in Northamptonshire leads to 330 arrests in a month

Officers made a total of 330 arrests for domestic abuse offences over the past month during a campaign to clamp down on those wanted for domestic violence, stalking and harassment across the county.

The campaign ran from December 19 to January 17 when domestic abuse was estimated to increase over the Christmas and New Year period.

A key part of the campaign involved releasing details and photos of 15 of Northamptonshire’s most wanted domestic abuse offenders. The majority of them have since been arrested with police still on the hunt for the remaining four.

Chief Constable Nick Adderley said: “This is an impressive number of arrests but it doesn’t stop here - tackling domestic abuse continues to be a Force priority. I’ve made it clear we must sustain this level of performance and provide victims with the service they deserve while bringing more offenders to justice.

“Our role is about prevention, protection and prosecution and Northamptonshire Police will go all out to prevent further violence and protect those victims, children and other vulnerable people subjected to such abuse.

“And to those perpetrators of domestic abuse, be under no illusion, we will strive relentlessly to bring you before a court and secure justice for your victims.”

The following four men, wanted for domestic abuse offences, are still at large:

■ Machi O'Brien, aged 26, whose last known address was in Wellingborough but also frequents Kettering. 20000514183.

■ Perry O’Boyle, aged 29 whose last known addresses were in Burton Latimer and Wellingborough. 20000570442.

■ Otis Wallace, aged 24 whose last known address was in Northampton. 20000294135.

■ Stuart Doyle, aged 37 who is known to frequent Brixworth, South Northants and Cosgrove, Milton Keynes. 20000270139.

Police have warned that these men must not be approached by the public and anyone who seems them or knows of their whereabouts can call 101, quoting the crime reference numbers.

Head of Public Protection, Detective Superintendent Rich Tompkins, said: “An element of the campaign which has been particularly successful has been the release of the details of our most wanted offenders. We continue to seek information about the whereabouts of these people and thank the public for their support throughout the campaign. Publicly naming suspects is a tactic we reserve the right to use again - we owe it to the victims to do everything in our power to protect them.

“Domestic abuse happens all year round and during these unprecedented times when people have to live their lives as never before, it is important that anyone suffering from domestic abuse knows the police are still here working around the clock to keep people safe.

“Sadly, many incidents still go unreported, but we hope this campaign will go some way towards changing that and will encourage anyone impacted by domestic abuse to report it to us.

“We work closely with statutory and voluntary agencies to ensure anyone who suffers domestic abuse gets the help they need, to highlight the issue of domestic abuse and to explore ways in which we can protect our community.”

The number of arrests, during the month-long campaign, was the highest during any single month over the past 18 months, equating to 10 domestic abuse arrests every day. This is 50 per cent higher than the previous month.

Police additionally secured 35 Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs), which enables police and magistrates’ courts to protect victims where there is insufficient evidence to charge a perpetrator.

Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold, said: ““Domestic abuse is a significant issue in our communities. It has a major impact on the health and wellbeing of those affected, their children and families. And it’s important to remember that abuse can be emotional, mental and financial as well as physical and verbal abuse.

“I have already made significant investments in services to support high risk victims as well as Domestic Abuse triage officers and case workers to identify and work with families as early as possible to resolve underlying issues which can result in family tensions and abusive behaviours. We have also introduced Perpetrator and Safe Relationships programmes along with conditional cautions to break the cycle of abuse.

“These initiatives have to work side-by-side with enforcement to ensure that we keep everyone in our community safe, especially in their own homes. I am pleased with the results of this campaign but am pushing for continued effort from all our services to reduce the impact of domestic abuse as nobody should have to live in fear.”