DOMESTIC violence poses the second biggest threat to life on the Island behind road accidents, councillors heard.
Every month the Island’s multi-agency risk assessment committee looks at 20 domestic abuse cases deemed to be at high risk of murder.
The startling figure was revealed to members of the Isle of Wight Council’s fire and community safety scrutiny panel who heard that half of all murders in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in any one year will be domestic related.
The Island’s police commander, Supt Norman Mellors, said while overall violence had gone down on the Island over the last few years, domestic violence had remained static.
And he said he had secured an extra £11,000 for more patrols simply because domestic violence levels were going the wrong way.
He said: "The biggest threat of death on the Island is from something that happens on the road, the next is from domestic violence."
He added: "You are more likely to be assaulted in your home by a partner than if you went out for a drink in Newport or Ryde on a Friday night."
The meeting also heard from Kim Brown, chief executive of The Hampton Trust, who said domestic violence was a significant factor among the 350 children who were identified as potentially at risk on the Island each month.
She gave an overview of a strategic review, carried out by the trust in October last year, of the services and programmes available to both victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse on the Island.
She said the imminent appointment of a domestic abuse co-ordinator on the Island, based in the adult safeguarding team, was key.
Reporter: suep@iwcpmail.co.uk