NEW laws to protect victims of domestic violence have been welcomed by police as incidents have soared during the pandemic. Cheshire police and crime commissioner David Keane is urging the government to go further as the number of victims doubled to 400 last month. Around 40 per cent of cases were deemed high risk, meaning there is serious risk of harm or death. New amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill will be presented to Parliament this week and includes the introduction of a new offence of non-fatal strangulation to legislation, the controlling or coercive behaviour offence to be extended to include abuse where perpetrators and victims no longer live together, and the ‘revenge porn’ offence widened to cover threats to share intimate images.