Police missed opportunities to save the lives of 41 per cent of women murdered in France by current or former partners, according to a damning justice ministry report released on Sunday.

The women had told police they feared they were in danger, but little or no action was taken, Nicole Belloubet, the justice minister, said. “The criminal justice system is not satisfactory. This report points out difficulties and dysfunctionalities.”

The report, which she commissioned, suggests that twice as many women in France murdered by current or former partners had previously been in touch with the police than in the UK.

A fifth of women killed by intimate partners in Britain had had prior contact with police in the 12 months ending in March last year.

If convictions for domestic violence and murders are grouped together, the figure for missed opportunities in France rises to 65 per cent.