Men who kill their ex-partners will be locked up for longer under tougher jail sentences, ministers pledge
- Committing murder after relationship ends will become an aggravating factor
- Killers with history of controlling behaviour could face at least 25 years in jail
Estranged husbands who kill their ex-wives will be locked up for longer, ministers have pledged.
Under plans to tackle domestic homicide, committing a murder after a relationship ends will become an aggravating factor for judges to take into account when passing sentence.
Those who use gratuitous violence against partners – known as ‘overkill’ – will also spent longer behind bars under urgent legal changes.
And killers who had a history of controlling behaviour could face at least 25 years behind bars, amid research showing that as many as one in four homicides is committed by a current or former partner.
At the same time, victims of long campaigns of domestic violence who lash out and kill their abusers will receive shorter prison sentences.
Matthew Fisher strangled wife Abi and then dumped the 29-year-old’s body in woodland in Castleford, West Yorkshire
Half of the murder cases reviewed by Clare Wade KC involved controlling or coercive behaviour and the same proportion were caused ‘in part by feelings of jealousy or resentment at the end of the relationship’, the Ministry of Justice said
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC said: ‘Cowards who murder their partners should face the full force of the law’
Just 15 years for murdering teacher
A husband who murdered his wife after she said she was leaving him was jailed for just 15 years under the current guidelines.
Matthew Fisher strangled Abi and then dumped the 29-year-old’s body in woodland in Castleford, West Yorkshire.
Fisher, 30, called police on July 9 last year to say he had woken to find her missing.
But CCTV showed he left their home at 4am and did not return until after 9am – leaving their baby behind. The teacher’s body was found the next day, with Fisher’s fingerprints found on gaffer tape nearby. He later told a psychiatrist he had ‘lost it’ after his wife of six years said she was ‘not happy’.
He pleaded guilty to her murder at Leeds Crown Court in September and was jailed for life with a minimum of 15 years in November.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC said: ‘Cowards who murder their partners should face the full force of the law.
‘Our reforms will give judges the power to punish murderers for the added pain and trauma they inflict through ‘overkill’ as well as ensuring that those who coercively control their victims or kill them at the end of a relationship face longer behind bars.’
Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs said: ‘I am pleased that the Government have committed to introducing a range of new statutory aggravating factors to ensure that the circumstances surrounding domestic murders are given adequate legal weight when considering sentencing.’
The moves to protect women are announced in ministers’ response to a recent report on domestic homicide sentencing by Clare Wade KC.
Half of the murder cases she reviewed involved controlling or coercive behaviour and the same proportion were caused ‘in part by feelings of jealousy or resentment at the end of the relationship’, the Ministry of Justice said.
As well as implementing the sentencing changes, ministers will ask the Law Commission to look into concerns that female defendants are less successful than men in domestic homicide trials.
This will include examining whether the law takes into account the circumstances where a victim of domestic violence kills their abuser when acting in self-defence.
Justice minister Edward Argar said: ‘Too many women are murdered every year by those they should feel safest with.
‘This government is working tirelessly to tackle violence against women, and these changes will mean perpetrators spend longer behind bars by taking greater account of the specific factors which are all too present in these horrific cases.’
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