Child safeguarding and domestic homicide review set after double Louth murders

Lincolnshire County Council will conduct a joint child safeguarding practice and domestic homicide review after the double murder of Bethany Vincent, 26, and her nine-year-old son Darren Henson in Louth last year.

Daniel Boulton, 30, was recently found guilty of murdering his ex-partner and her son, known to his family as DJ, in a tragic incident which happened at High Holme Road in Louth on May 31, 2021.

This week the jury rejected Boulton’s case that “he lost control” due to his personality disorder and took just two hours to convict him of both murders.

Police body cam footage of Boulton’s arrest was released by Lincolnshire Police on Tuesday, ahead of his sentencing on Wednesday, February 2 when he was given two life sentences and told he must serve at least 40 years in jail.

The county council’s review will be published later this year after it has been checked by the Home Office. The decision for the joint review was agreed on August 1, but they had to wait for Boulton’s murder trial to conclude before beginning it in earnest.

Chris Cook, independent chair of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children’s Partnership, which will be conducting a joint review with the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership, said: “This was a tragic incident, and our thoughts are with Bethany and Darren’s family and friends at this difficult time. Keeping residents safe, both children and adults, is a priority for all local agencies.

“Therefore, we are carrying out a joint Child Safeguarding Practice Review and Domestic Homicide Review into this case. The overall purposes of such reviews are to prevent or reduce the likelihood of similar incidents of domestic abuse and homicide/harm to children, to improve service responses in these areas and to identify any improvements that should be made by persons in the area to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and victims of domestic abuse.”