Murderers using strangulation or targeting ex-partners to face longer prison sentences
New laws to be introduced in England and Wales in attempt to reduce violence against women and girls
Murderers in England and Wales who kill their ex-partners or use strangulation will face longer prison sentences, ministers have said.
Under new laws announced on Friday judges will have to consider tougher jail terms for murderers who strangle their victims or whose action is connected to the end of a relationship.
The changes, expected to come into force next year subject to parliamentary time, will implement two outstanding recommendations from Clare Wade KC’s independent domestic homicide sentencing review.
Every year, about 85 people – overwhelmingly women – are killed by a current or ex-partner, and most of the time those crimes take place in the home.
Wade’s analysis of murder cases found that 30% involved strangulation and 40% happened at the end, or perceived end, of a relationship. In both scenarios, all the victims were women and all the killers were men.
The minister for violence against women and girls, Alex Davies-Jones, said: “The level of violence against women is a national crisis which this government is determined to tackle, and that includes ensuring the punishment fits the crime for the most abhorrent crimes.
“I want to pay tribute to all those who campaigned for change in this area, including the Joanna Simpson Foundation, Killed Women, and the families of the victims of the Nottingham attacks.”
The government announced at the same time that it had asked the Law Commission to review the sentencing framework for murder and the law of homicide in recognition of wider concerns about inconsistencies.
The review will examine issues raised by campaigners, such as how diminished responsibility is considered, which was controversial in the sentencing of Valdo Calocane for killing three people in Nottingham in 2023, and whether the sentencing framework adequately reflects the seriousness of murders committed in the home.
The lord chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, said: “I fully recognise the concerns raised around homicide law and sentencing, but these are incredibly complex issues and previous tinkering is what has led to the current disparities, so it is right that the Law Commission takes a comprehensive look at it.”
The government said inconsistencies had been created as a result of piecemeal changes implemented since the murder sentencing framework was introduced in 2003.
It cited as an example the 25-year starting point for murders where a knife had been taken to the scene with intent, compared with the 15-year starting point normally applied if a knife already at the scene was used. This has resulted in murders committed in the home with a weapon often receiving a lower sentence than those committed with a weapon in public places.
Diana Parkes and Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, the co-founders of the Joanna Simpson Foundation who have campaigned for a review of homicide laws since the end of the trial of Simpson’s killer, Robert Brown, said they accepted the need for reform. “However, these proposals set out today by the secretary of state for justice fail to go far enough. The Law Commission report that this review is based on is narrow focused and only looks at legal structures, not sentencing and procedures.”
The new measures form part of the government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls.
The former Conservative lord chancellor David Gauke is carrying out a separate sentencing review amid huge pressure on capacity in prisons. He indicated it could lead to sentences for some serious crimes being reduced, which he told the Telegraph had been a knock-on effect of increasing the minimum term for murder.
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