Met Police chief says force 'recognises' link between football matches and spike in domestic abuse cases

Metropolitan Police officers 'recognise' a link between football games and a rise in domestic abuse cases, a police chief has said. 

Met Commander Melanie Dales said extra resources are deployed specifically for large sporting events to deal with a 'spike' in cases. 

Ms Dale admitted that the force 'recognise' a link between matches and incidents of domestic abuse. 

'Traditionally when you get big football events and England lose, we can sometimes see a spike in the way the domestic abuse incidents rise,' she said. 

'What we do in those cases is we make sure we have extra teams working with our partnership agencies to make sure we can refer appropriately.

Over the past year, more than 67,000 people have been arrested for the offence (stock image) 

'Fortunately this year there wasn't that spike.'  

Over the past year, more than 67,000 people have been arrested for the offence by police in London, but there was no rise in incidents during Euro 2020.  

When asked about concerns the force has with the Premier League season now underway, she said: 'With any major sporting event we will always make sure that we look back on previous trends to identify this being a rise in domestic abuse.

'As we move forward we will make sure we have the adequate resource in place to deal with anything that happens.'

She added that a spike in cases could also be seen when people are 'under pressure' which may increase the chance of them developing a 'severe obsession' with a partner. 

Scotland Yard is looking to crack down on the offence, which can include domestic violence, stalking and child sexual abuse. 

Domestic abuse offences increase by around 3.3 per cent among those who lived in the same household during the coronavirus lockdown, according to the force. 

Scotland Yard is looking to crack down on the offence, which can include domestic violence, stalking and child sexual abuse.

Between August last year and July 2021, officers issued 1,404 domestic violence protection orders - an increase of just over 71 per cent on the previous year.   

Ms Dales added: 'Traditionally, we  think about females being the victims of this crime, and the majority are.

'But what we need to make sure we are doing is recognising male victims and taking those cases as seriously as we do female victims.'

In one case, a victim, named only as Emma, feared she would die after being beaten and controlled by her former partner. 

The 40-year-old from Essex said he partner would control where she was going, who she was with and the colour of her nails. 

'The physical side was quite obvious, I knew it was wrong, I knew it shouldn't be happening, but you end up putting up with it,' she said. 

There was no rise in incidents of domestic abuse during Euro 2020

'It was the mental side of it that I didn't realise was happening throughout the relationship.

'It was only after that I started to talk about it with the police and friends and family that I realised the mental abuse had been going on throughout the whole time.

'Part of that mental abuse is probably why you end up suffering through physical abuse as well.

'You end up getting so beaten down, you feel so worthless that you put up with it, you think that's OK.'

Her former partner was jailed for six years after pleading guilty to GBH and actual bodily harm in 2017.