Chances to protect teen killed by her dad 'missed'

A review of how organisations supported a teenager before she was murdered by her father said there was "a need to recognise children as victims of domestic abuse".

The domestic homicide review looked into the case of Lauren Malt, 19, from West Winch, Norfolk, who died in January 2022 after Nigel Malt repeatedly drove his car over her.

It concluded there had been "insufficient understanding of the risk [Nigel Malt] posed" and "the degree of control he held over all family members".

The review, commissioned by the Norfolk Community Safety Partnership, said organisations should avoid "victim blaming language" and follow new and established protocols to ensure children and victims are heard.

Twenty agencies including police, health services, councils and domestic abuse organisations contributed.

The review used the Eight Stages of Homicide framework, which sets out how a relationship where one partner is coercive can escalate to murder.

It found the behaviour of Malt, who died of heart failure in prison in 2025 while serving a life sentence for his daughter's murder, was "clearly identifiable as escalating".

The review looked at the chronology of interactions Lauren and her family had had with support services.

It found in January 2018, she had approached staff at her college and told them about her father's abuse.

"She said she was worried about her home life, and that she felt anxious and paranoid," the review said.

The college referred her to a domestic abuse charity and following further concerns raised by her boyfriend, to children's social care, where her case was picked up.

In February 2019, Malt threatened his daughter's boyfriend with an axe and reversed his car, nearly hitting Lauren.

Her college helped her report this to police and her father was interviewed under caution.

Further concerns were raised by wider family members, the college, schools and children's services in March 2019.

In April, Malt was arrested for actual bodily harm against his wife and was granted bail on condition he stayed away from her home.

She told officers he had assaulted her throughout their 23-year relationship.

During this time, the family were supported by children's services and the review said Lauren "continued to express fear of her father", leading to her moving away.

Her mother was assaulted by Malt in May, August and October 2019, but the Crown Prosecution Service took no action due to a lack of evidence.

Lauren returned to the family home in October, living alongside her father, where her "behaviour changed from help-seeking, to problematic".

A strategy meeting was held in November 2020 and a multi-agency support plan was drawn up.

In April 2021, Malt assaulted his wife again. She reported it to the police, before moving out of the family home.

Malt was arrested, charged, bailed and had been due in court for the incident in June 2022.

During this time he was living at the family home with his daughter.

By now, she had stopped attending college, was being treated for alcohol-related issues and was self-harming.

Early Help support for the family closed in December 2021 and in January 2022 Lauren was murdered.

In its conclusion, the review found "victim-blaming language" was evident throughout agency case notes and internal reports, with words like "minimising", "arguments" and "discord" used.

It found this had been the case at some Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences, where discussions had not always resulted in "sufficient action".

"Abuse must be named as abuse, and professional records must avoid language which implies mutuality, responsibility, or blame on the part of victims," the review said.

It said as a child, Lauren was not responded to as a victim in her own right, something endorsed by the Domestic Abuse Act of 2021.

"She was limited by her age, caught between children's and adults' systems, and affected by adultification," the review said.

Instead, Malt's behaviour was seen as "anger, vulnerability or non-engagement," rather than as intentional abuse and control.

His account had "sometimes carried disproportionate weight" and where practitioners had raised concerns, these were not always acted on.

"Agencies missed opportunities to build a whole-family risk picture from information about weapons, threats, intimidation, home conditions, caring responsibilities and [Malt's] aggression towards professionals," the review said.

Since Lauren's death, services were found to have strengthened work around safeguarding training, domestic abuse awareness and recording historic risk.

Specific recommendations were made to each of the organisations involved in the review.

The review hoped lessons from Lauren's case would help agencies "make the future safer for victims of domestic abuse and coercive control".

A case study of Lauren would be developed "to highlight the need to recognise children as victims of abuse, [and] this will be available for use in training within all agencies", the review said.

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