Mum's plea for law change as she brands daughter's killer 'absolutely evil'

29 February 2024 , 06:49

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Murdered Ellie Gould with her mum Carole (Image: Carole Gould)

Blowing out the candles on her cake, Ellie Gould had no idea it would be the last birthday she would live to see. As she turned 17, it was a day filled with family, friends and celebrations. But there was no cake on what should have been Ellie’s 22nd birthday this month – just a sombre walk to the nearby park for Carole and Matt Gould, to see their precious daughter’s memorial tree.

This once happy day now leaves a far more bitter taste in their mouths. Especially knowing the monster who killed their daughter could soon be free to start a family of his own. “He is evil, absolutely evil,” says her devastated mother, Carole Gould, 53. So, she believes, is the law.

Thomas Griffiths was sentenced to life but could serve a minimum of just 12 and a half years after brutally murdering sixth-former Ellie, from Calne, Wiltshire, at her home, using a knife from her kitchen. Had he attacked her in the street or elsewhere, the minimum term would have been at least a decade more. If a weapon is taken to the scene of the crime, the starting point for the minimum term served is 25 years.

Ellie on her 17th birthday

Ellie's memorial tree

But if the weapon is already at the scene – as it is in most cases of male on female domestic killings – the starting point is just 15 years. Carole and fellow grieving mums are backing The Mirror’s Justice For Our Daughters campaign to make it 25 years regardless. A public consultation on changing the law closes this coming Monday, March 4.

Carole, who is due to meet with Labour Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper later today, says: “We beg people to fill in the Murder Sentencing Consultation. It is the final chance to force the Government’s hand to do the right thing. Why can’t we have parity? The law as it is at the moment is just diminishing women’s lives. At the end of the day, murder is all about somebody choosing to take somebody’s life.”

Man in 30s dies after being stabbed in park sparking police probe

Speaking about the Government, she adds: “They should go and see these women in the morgue with their stab wounds. We had to go see Ellie in the morgue, with all the stab wounds in the side of her neck. Ellie’s life was full of promise – she loved animals as much as she loved people, and especially adored her pony, Blackjack. She was caring and soft, and she had a good sense of humour. She was just delightful.”

Thomas Griffiths was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years and six months in prison (PA)

Yvette Cooper in Wellingborough with Labour candidate Gen Kitchen (Paul Marriott)

Bristol Crown Court heard Ellie and Griffiths had been dating for three months when she decided to end their relationship. The next day – May 3, 2019 – Griffiths dressed in all black, drove to her house and choked her unconscious. The court then heard how he took a knife from the kitchen chopping block and repeatedly stabbed her. He left her lying in a pool of blood, with the knife in her neck and her hand on its handle.

Carole agreed with prosecutors that it was an attempt to make it look self-inflicted. Judge Mr Justice Garnham called Griffiths’ crime “chilling” and said he had tried to “cover [his] tracks.” Carole says: “If that is not calculating, I don’t know what is. He showed no remorse.” Griffiths, 17 at the time, pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed in November 2019.

Carole is also backing other demands in the Mirror campaign, including longer minimum terms when a victim is strangled. It is also a key objective of Labour MP Jess Phillips, who Carole – along with her fellow founding members of action group Killed Women – will be watching in Parliament later today. The campaign group are also sharing their plea to back the law change on today’s Lorraine on ITV.

“He’ll be out at 30,” says Carole, of Griffiths. “He has destroyed our lives. You try to put it into the back of your mind or try to distract yourself, but it’s always there. That’s what we have to live with.” The Ministry of Justice said: “This Government is doing more than ever to protect women and girls, including making sure abusers and killers spend longer behind bars.”

Cooper backs domestic violence plan

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper backs our campaign to put domestic violence advisers in 999 control rooms. She said: “Missed opportunities cost lives. Enough is enough.”

She referenced the case of Raneem Oudeh, 22, who rang 999 several times on the night she was killed by estranged husband Janbaz Tarin in August 2018. He killed both Raneem and her mother, Khoula Saleem, 49, at Raneem’s house in Solihull, West Mids.

Raneem’s aunt, Noor Norris, 42, said: “He attacked Raneem while she was on the phone. Her last words were, ‘Are you going to arrest him by the morning?’”

After her killer was jailed for 32 years, West Midlands Police admitted officers could have “done more” to save Raneem.

Lydia Veljanovski