'Review into sister's killing was waste of time'

Kelly Fitzgibbons was killed alongside her daughters, Ava and Lexi, in 2020

A woman whose sister and nieces were killed in West Sussex has called a review into their deaths "triggering", incredibly draining" and a "waste of time".

Emma Ambler's twin sister Kelly Fitzgibbons, 40, and nieces Ava and Lexi Needham, aged four and two, were shot dead in Woodmancote in 2020 by Robert Needham, Ms Fitzgibbons' partner and father of the girls. He then turned the gun on himself.

It comes as BBC research suggests just 1% of reviews into domestic abuse-related deaths are being completed in the recommended time.

Jess Phillips, minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said more needed to be done to ensure the process was "effective and timely".

Home Office guidance says these reviews, which make recommendations to help prevent people being killed by partners or family members, should be finished within six months.

But BBC analysis has found most are taking years.

Emma Ambler said her twin sister Kelly Fitzgibbons was "one in a million"

A domestic homicide review (DHR) into the death of Ms Fitzgibbons and her daughters was published in 2024, over four years after their deaths.

It revealed Needham lied on his shotgun application to police about previous convictions and treatment for depression.

Ms Ambler welcomed the review, which made a number of recommendations regarding the gun-licensing process.

But she said she now felt that "nothing's changed".

"It took over four years for Kelly's review to be published and it's not made one bit of difference," she said.

"I think they're just filed on a shelf, and nobody takes any notice of them."

Ms Ambler is one of a number of bereaved families the BBC has spoken to who have criticised the length of time the reviews take.

Emma Ambler said the lack of action after her sister's DHR has left her "angry, sad, and annoyed"

Every domestic killing or suicide involving people aged 16 and over in England and Wales is subject to a DHR, recently renamed as a domestic abuse-related death review (DARDR).

They examine the role of professionals who had contact with the victim or the perpetrator before an attack, but do not issue blame.

More than 1,200 reviews have been carried out since their introduction in 2011, according to Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse, a charity which supports families affected by domestic homicide.

BBC analysis of all reviews in a government library, dating back to 2011, found almost every review was taking longer than it was supposed to.

Of the 495 with sufficient data:

• Only seven were finished within the six-month timeframe

• One in six took more than two years to be completed

• In the south-east of England, where Kelly, Ava and Lexi were killed, 100% of reviews were not completed within the six-month timeframe

Reasons given for the delays include the complexities of a police investigation or court proceedings, contact with family members or others to enable them to contribute to the review and safety partnership meetings.

• If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this story, support and advice is available via BBC Action Line

Phillips said the reviews were "a really important opportunity for agencies on a local and national level to consider each individual victim, improve their safeguarding practices and ultimately prevent these deaths from happening in the first place".

"Every death related to domestic abuse is a devastating tragedy and should not be overlooked," she said.

She accepted that more needed to be done to ensure the process was "effective and timely" and that the government was creating a new oversight board with publicly appointed members to make the process of reviewing reports faster.

A Home Office consultation last year suggested increasing the timeframe to complete a review from six to 12 months - but no change has yet been made.

Even with the extension, BBC analysis suggests most would still miss the deadline - only 18% of the reviews were completed within one year.

Prof Jane Monckton-Smith, a criminologist specialising in domestic homicide who has chaired several reviews, said when done properly they could bring about real change.

"They have been absolutely crucial in building our knowledge of intimate partner homicides, domestic homicides and suicides," she added.

However, she said they could be improved by having fewer people involved and having a chairperson to run the process.