'National crisis': Government introduces tougher sentences for jealous ex-partners who kill

Changes to domestic homicide laws are set to come into force in 2025, ITV News Reporter Amy Lewis explains

Jealous ex-partners who kill or strangle their victims will receive tougher jail terms as part of what the government call its continued crackdown on violence against women.

The government is introducing tougher sentencing rules for murders involving strangulation or when the killing is connected to the end of a relationship, following a review of domestic homicide laws.

A minister said the changes for England and Wales, expected to come into force next year, would ensure punishments reflect the severity of the "most abhorrent" crimes.

The Law Commission, an independent body that reviews the law and recommends changes, has also been asked to review the overall sentencing framework for murder and the law of homicide.

This comes in response to issues raised by campaigners, including how diminished responsibility is considered and whether current sentencing rules properly reflect the seriousness of domestic murders.

Diminished responsibility is a legal defence allowing offenders to claim reduced liability due to mental impairment or medical conditions.

The Ministry of Justice said 85 people, mainly women, are killed by their current or ex-partner each year, mostly in the home.

Barrister Clare Wade's review of murder cases revealed that 30% involved strangulation and 40% occurred at the end, or perceived end, of a relationship - all involving female victims and male killers.

'Proposals do not go far enough'

Founders of the Joanna Simpson Foundation – set up in the name of a woman bludgeoned to death in 2010 by her husband, British Airways captain Robert Brown – said the government’s proposals do not go far enough.

They said the “once-in-a-lifetime review covers sentencing and procedures comprehensively as well as the structure, and starts from a blank page”.

Co-founders Diana Parkes and Hetti Barkworth-Nanton said: “We welcome and accept 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.”

They said the government is “squandering a massive opportunity to bring all of our archaic homicide laws, sentencing and procedures into the 21st century”.

The families of the victims of Nottingham attacker Valdo Calocane welcomed the review announcement.

Calocane stabbed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar as they returned from a night out in Nottingham in the early hours of June 13 2023, before killing 65-year-old Ian Coates.

Calocane was handed an indefinite hospital order in January after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, which the families branded a “gross miscarriage of justice”.

The families branded it a “gross miscarriage of justice”.

Welcoming the sentencing review, they said: “Because of our dogged pursuit for justice, answers, accountability and change it appears as though some progress is being made.”

Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary 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.”

Alex Davies-Jones, the minister for violence against women and girls, 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.”

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