Domestic violence cases have collapsed in the past because the victim has been unwilling to see the process through to the end.

There can be many reasons – all of them understandable – why a woman, and the victim is almost always a woman, may feel unable to help put her abuser behind bars despite her terrible suffering, including fear, low self-esteem and a misplaced sense of loyalty.

MP Ann Cryer says that there is also still a stigma attached to reporting abuse in some of the district’s Muslim communities and pressure from their families to drop any charges and this is another factor that must not be discounted.

One way to overcome this reliance on the victim’s co-operation is by gathering independent evidence, and the police have been equipping officers with head-mounted video cameras to do just that.

However, what seemed like a good idea looks to have become bogged down by difficulties with equipment.

This is said to have been a factor in officers in Bradford missing their target to prosecute more than half of all domestic violence complaints in the district.

Understandably the force is pledging action, and this cannot come soon enough.

For these are not one-off crimes. Every abuser who slips through the net is likely to reoffend – and that means more suffering for their victims.