Mum praises work to tackle harmful relationships
Family handoutThe mother of murdered teenager Holly Newton has praised ongoing work to tackle dangerous relationships between teenagers.
Holly was 15 when she was killed by her ex-boyfriend in 2023 and her family have been campaigning for Holly's Law, which would allow people under 16 to be classed as victims of domestic violence from partners.
Northumberland County Council is running a project to understand the prevalence of domestic abuse among young people, as well as working to help people recognise unhealthy behaviours and where to get support.
Holly's mum Micala Trussler said the project was "really positive" but there was still work to do.
Holly was repeatedly stabbed in an alleyway in Hexham, Northumberland, by Logan MacPhail, who was sentenced to life detention with a minimum of 17 years for her murder.
The council pilot involved specific training for staff about domestic abuse in teenage relationships, helping them to recognise it and know where to refer them for additional support.
The scheme is looking at relationships between young people aged 13 and up.
Supporting children
Tuesday's meeting of the Conservative-led council's health and wellbeing board heard from safeguarding children business manager Saira Park, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
She said: "Domestic abuse formal victims can be from 16, but we recognise that more and more relationships are becoming domestically abusive in their own right."
She said the council had also implemented a shared definition of harmful relationships, to help understand how widespread they were.
"People were recording it in different ways in different services – nobody was sure what to do and they weren't sure what services were there to support," she said.
"This is our way of finding out what the prevalence is and how we can help support these children."
Trussler said: "The work is really positive to be honest."
But she reiterated her frustration that Holly's Law was not included in the government's Violence Against Women and Girls strategy.
"The council are doing a great job and it is really good that they are doing that, although the government hasn't changed the legislation, everyone acknowledges that you can be a victim and they are putting in their own steps to help as many young people as they can."
The government previously said its £20m strategy, which included specialist training for teachers to prevent the radicalisation of young men, would focus on tackling the "root causes of abuse".
"There's still more work to do," Trussler said.
"The education is core and it is key, but we need Holly's Law to be in line with that."
