FOI 878-2023 / Sept 2023 / Murder
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 878-2023
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 21st September 2023 as follows:
Could you please supply details of all crimes since 2000, which were originally recorded as murder, but later reclassified as either "no crime" or a different crime.
Where possible, please provide details of:
- The year of the incident
- The sex of the deceased
- A brief description of the crime/incident
- What the murder was later reclassified as
- Why the crime was reclassified
- The name of the deceased
- The age of the deceased
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: I can advise that Warwickshire Police do hold information relevant to your request; however, this has been considered and some of the information has been deemed unsuitable for disclosure.
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Warwickshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt), to provide you the applicant with a notice which:
- states that fact,
- specifies the exemption in question and
- states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
The following exemptions apply to the withheld information:
Section 38(1) – Health and Safety
Section 40(2) – Personal Information
Section 38 is a prejudice based qualified exemption and there is a requirement to articulate the harm that would be caused in disclosing such information, as well as carrying out a public interest test.
Section 40 is a class based absolute exemption and there is no requirement to evidence the public interest test in this case.
Consideration on applying this exemption is subject to whether the disclosure of any other information would lead to identifying individuals (other than the deceased) and place information pertaining to them into the public domain. This constitutes personal data which would, if released, be in breach of the rights provided by the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations; namely the first data protection principle, which states that personal data will be processed lawfully, fairly and transparently. It is my view that the request runs counter to the three requirements prescribed by law and that there is no lawful basis to provide this information. This is an absolute exemption and no public interest test is required.
Section 38(1) – Health and Safety
Harm
The Act provides the public with a general right of access to recorded information held by public authorities. However, information disclosed under this Act is effectively released into the public domain, or to ‘the world’, and not only to the person making the request.
The information requested relates to details of the names and circumstances surrounding the death of an individual and releasing information would cause pain to friends and family members of the deceased, who may relive distressing memories related to the event. Protecting the safety of the public is of paramount importance to Warwickshire Police and information that would compromise such health and safety would not be disclosed within a response to a Freedom of Information request.
Public Interest Test
Factors Favouring Disclosure
Disclosure of the requested information may go some way to demonstrating that the force is efficient, effective and accountable.
Factors Against Disclosure
Release of the information is likely to expose individuals to distressing memories thus risking harm to their mental well-being. This would be relevant to the family and friends of the deceased, as well as any other individual involved in the investigation. Warwickshire Police take the responsibility to protect both the physical and mental health and safety of the communities we serve seriously and any information that could jeopardise this will not be released. The public would lose confidence in our commitment to protecting the wellbeing of our community.
Balance test
When balancing the public interest, arguments favouring disclosure need to be balanced with those against. The strongest reason for the disclosure of information is that this would demonstrate openness and transparency and the strongest reason for withholding information is the health and safety of individuals, leading to loss of confidence in the force.
After weighing up the competing interests, it has been determined that the public interest favours non-disclosure of the withheld elements of your request.
Information I am able to provide is set out below; however, please note that, due to changes in systems, it is not possible to retrieve information prior to 4th October 2017; therefore, information has been provided based on the date range 4th October 2017 to the date of your request.
|
Year of incident |
Sex of the deceased |
What the murder was later reclassified as |
Why the crime was reclassified |
Age of the deceased |
|
2019 |
Female |
CANCELLED |
Coroner/Pathologist findings |
30-50 |
|
2020 |
Female |
CANCELLED |
Coroner/Pathologist findings |
30-50 |
|
2020 |
Female |
CANCELLED |
Coroner/Pathologist findings |
30-50 |
|
2021 |
Male |
CANCELLED |
Coroner/Pathologist findings |
51 or over |
|
2021 |
Female |
CANCELLED |
Coroner/Pathologist findings |
51 or over |
|
2021 |
Female |
CANCELLED |
Coroner/Pathologist findings |
51 or over |
|
2022 |
Female |
CANCELLED |
Coroner/Pathologist findings |
30-50 |
I can advise that during the period there were no crimes recorded as Murder which were later reclassified as any other crime type.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as accurate as possible.
Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of complaint.
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write or email the Freedom of Information Unit quoting the reference number above.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Warwickshire Police
PO Box 4
Leek Wootton
Warwickshire
CV35 7QB