Domestic violence charity Refuge is planning to sue a police force and the Crown Prosecution Service for breaching human rights legislation.

Domestic violence charity Refuge is planning to sue a police force and the Crown Prosecution Service for breaching human rights legislation.

Refuge has brought in Baroness Helena Kennedy QC to file a lawsuit against the Greater Manchester Police and the CPS following the murder of Sabina Akhtar by her husband Malik Mannan last year.

Akhtar had reported her husband’s violence and death threats to the police, but they released him and he was able to continue to harass Akhtar before eventually stabbing her to death.

The suit, if it proceeds, will be a test case, pushing the boundaries of how the human rights legislation is interpreted.

Refuge chief executive Sandra Horley told BBC Radio 4 that the charity was committed to its legal position. “Under human rights legislation the authorities have a duty to protect persons and we believed in this case the police and CPS failed spectacularly and if they handled it better she might still be alive today.

“The only way to change policy and practice is to hit them where it hurts: in their wallets,” Horley (pictured) said.

GMP Chief Constable Peter Fahy said the police had done everything they could for Akhtar, but that the CPS was at fault for not prosecuting. “It is ironic that these particular people are talking about using the court system to try and sue us when it is actually the court system which fails to protect victims of domestic violence,” he said.

The CPS told Charity News Alert that they have not yet been served papers by the charity.