Daily roundup 30 May: Domestic abuse, Ofsted visit, and stabbing death

Children's lives are being put at risk because victims of domestic abuse are not being given safe or fair hearings, it has been claimed. The Guardian reports that a study by Women's Aid and Queen Mary University of London found that victims of domestic violence continue to be cross-examined by their abusers in family courts more than a year after the government promised to stop such ordeals. Survivors reported they were repeatedly not believed, blamed for experiencing abuse, and seen as unstable by judges, barristers and Cafcass officers.


Positive steps are being made by a council to improve services for children, inspectors have said. The BBC reports that a monitoring visit to assess progress at Dudley Council's children's services department, which was rated "inadequate" in 2016, found that the council is "improving the lives of an increasing number of children and families".


A 15-year-old boy has died after being stabbed in Wolverhampton. The BBC reports that emergency services were called to reports of disorder at just after 11pm on Tuesday. The boy was taken to hospital where he later died, West Midlands Police said it has launched a murder investigation.


Former chair of the Magistrate's Association John Thornhill has been appointed as the chair of the Lay Observers' National Council for the next three years, the Ministry of Justice has announced. Lay observers are volunteers appointed by the Secretary of State to inspect the conditions in which detained persons are transported or held by escort or custody contractors in England and Wales.