Category of Evidence	Description	What It May Include	Why It Matters	Reliability Level
Medical Records	Clinical documentation of injuries or symptoms	Hospital reports, GP notes, emergency visits, injury photographs taken by medical staff	Provides independent, professional confirmation of physical harm	Very High
Photographic Evidence	Visual documentation of injuries or damage	Bruising, cuts, swelling, broken objects, time-stamped images	Shows physical impact and progression over time	High (especially when dated)
Witness Statements	Accounts from people who directly observed incidents	Neighbours, friends, family, professionals present at or near the incident	Corroborates events and reduces reliance on single testimony	High (varies by independence)
Police Reports / Incident Records	Official documentation of reported incidents	Statements taken by police, call-out logs, incident numbers	Establishes formal record of allegations and response	Very High
Contemporaneous Notes / Journals	Written records made at or near the time of events	Personal diaries, dated logs, message summaries, emails to self or others	Helps establish timeline consistency and credibility	Moderate to High
Digital Communications	Electronic messages referencing incidents or injuries	Text messages, WhatsApp, emails, voice notes	Can show immediate aftermath, admissions, or patterns	High (context dependent)
Physical Objects / Damage	Tangible evidence of force or impact	Damaged furniture, broken doors, torn clothing	Supports claims of physical confrontation or force	Moderate
Psychological / Trauma Assessments	Professional evaluation of impact of abuse	Psychologist or psychiatrist reports referencing trauma symptoms linked to events	Supports consistency between reported events and psychological impact	High (if well-documented)
Third-Party Observations	Indirect but relevant observations of behaviour or condition	Noticing injuries, fear responses, withdrawal, or patterns of intimidation	Supports behavioural pattern evidence	Moderate
Pattern Evidence Over Time	Repeated incidents showing escalation or repetition	Multiple records across months/years	Demonstrates ongoing nature rather than isolated event	High (when well-documented)

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Important Context Note

In professional assessments, no single piece of evidence is usually decisive on its own. Strong cases typically rely on:

• Consistency over time
• Multiple independent sources
• Correlation between physical, digital, and witness evidence

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