Page 16 - Adult C Overview Report - FINAL

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subject of criticism in a recent inspection and as such is subject to improvement.

7.20. The local area introduced a multi-agency police led initiative of Multi Agency Tasking and

Coordination (MATAC) at around the time of the scoping period of this review. MATAC is a
process to ensure that agencies work in partnership to engage serial domestic abuse
perpetrators in support, take enforcement action where required and to protect vulnerable
and intimidated victims.

7.21. Adult 1 was not referred to MATAC as he and Adult C were already listed several times at
MARAC. The local protocol advises against the perpetrator being listed at both to avoid the
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risk of duplication and/or gaps. The One Minute guide to MATAC for professionals does not
make this clear and needs clarifying.

7.22. Notwithstanding the attempts made by all services involved to support Adult C to keep
herself safe from the domestic abuse that she experienced from her partner, Adult 1 told the
author that he did not believe that anything could have kept them apart. Adult 1 stated that
he believed that the violence was 98% down to him. He stated that whatever sanctions were
in place, they both contacted each other. That included when he was on remand (Adult 1
stated that Adult C’s number was on his approved list of phone numbers), when Adult C was
in refuge and when she was subject to bail conditions. Adult 1 told the author that he did
agree that they were completely co-dependant and that this was not healthy. Adult 1 stated

that this insight has come from undertaking a perpetrator programme recently. Adult 1 said
that he wished that he had been able to do this when he had been in prison previously. Adult
1 talked about his violence and how he now reflected on what had happened. For the
moment, Adult 1 stated that he did not want to be in another relationship.

7.23. This would suggest that the professional efforts to keep Adult C safe were always likely to fail
and leads to consideration and implications for multi-agency working discussed later.

13 https://middlesbrough.gov.uk/sites/default/files/One-Minute-Guide-10-MATAC.pdf

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