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Breaking the silence: Kate's story

When former MP Kate Kniveton suffered years of domestic abuse she couldn’t see a way out, and she was silenced by her ex-husband, Andrew Griffiths, who was then a Government minister.

​After a decade of abuse and a subsequent legal battle in the family courts, she's now able to speak out about what she experienced and has taken part in an ITV documentary talking to other high-achieving professional women who were secretly suffering behind closed doors.

Kate never felt able to reach out to police; her husband told her she wouldn't be believed and so she never made a report.

However, as part of this documentary, the production team wanted to understand what we do as a police service. When we receive that report of domestic abuse, how do we respond?

With compassion and professionalism; which was so clearly captured when the camera crew followed NPT officers PC Charlie Young and PC Toby Joyce on a night shift. Called to several DA jobs, the pair responded with a producer filming from the backseat, explaining their thought process on the way to the job.

One of the key questions that policing often faces is about how we build trust with victim-survivors who may already lack of confidence in the police force. The answer rests in getting it right, from the very start – beginning every interaction by just being human; showing victim-survivors they are believed and we'll do every we can to support them, and keep them safe.

As she articulately puts it in the programme, Charlie often says to victim-survivors: "I don't know what's happened with other officers in the past, but I'm here meeting you for the first time and I'm here to do everything I can to keep you safe".

While Charlie and Toby's shift only makes up a short five minutes within the programme, which centres heavily on the family court process and post separation abuse, the officers' response clearly demonstrates that we're here to help.

True Vision, the production company behind the documentary, also came to meet with DI Nell Rodriguez, who was at the time a Domestic Abuse Team Inspector. She shared her extensive knowledge on how we investigate these cases and helped provide the producers with a solid understanding of the challenges that come with it. Thanks to Nell, Charlie and Toby for getting involved and sharing the police perspective.

Kate's story is powerful, as are the testimonies from the victim-survivors she speaks with. Watch the documentary for a real insight into their perspectives and some of those feelings and challenges they are facing.

The programme, titled 'Breaking the silence: Kate's story' airs at 10.20pm on Sunday, 20 July on ITV.