Bolton must do more to drive awareness of domestic abuse towards men after the death of a resident according to a review released this week.

The resident, anonymised as 'Andrew', died around five years ago of a stab wound sustained after an argument with his partner at his home in the town.

The partner, anonymised as 'Gemma', was arrested on suspicion of murder but was acquitted at a trial at Manchester Crown Court in 2020. She said the stab wound was self-inflicted.

However, the alleged history of domestic abuse in their relationship led the Bolton Be Safe Strategic Partnership to launch a Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) which was released this week.

The review said neither Andrew nor Gemma was in contact with the authorities about domestic abuse in their relationship, limiting the lessons learnt by these authorities, but the borough must do more to drive awareness of domestic abuse towards men to drive engagement with support services.

It said: "Actions need to be taken by the Bolton Be Safe Strategic Partnership to increase awareness of domestic abuse and violence towards males, including LGBTQI+ and BAME males, and to undertake a needs assessment of service provision for male victims of domestic abuse and violence."

Steph Parker, the co-chair of the Be Safe Bolton Strategic Partnership, said there is an action plan in place in response to the recommendations.

She said: "On behalf of the partnership I wish to express our deepest sympathy to the family and the friends of Andrew following his tragic death.

"The review was commissioned to establish if there were any lessons to be learned to improve the way we work together to protect victims of domestic abuse.

"We will share the findings and recommendations of the review panel with all the agencies involved in the review. Lessons have been identified which we are determined will be used to improve our overall response to domestic abuse.

"Be Safe have developed an action plan to implement the recommendations and we will ensure that we continue to work together with our partners to minimise risks to victims of domestic abuse and those with care and support needs.

"Anybody worried about domestic abuse should call the police on 101. If you are in immediate danger, phone 999 or get someone else to phone on your behalf. Further support can be found by contacting Endeavour on 01204 394842 or Fortalice on 01204 365677."

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.