Murderers who kill partners at home face extra 10 years in prison
Murderers who kill their partner or ex-partner in their home could face a further 10 years in prison as the government looks to close a serious sentencing gap.
Currently, the starting point for most domestic homicides that occur in the home and are often already committed with a weapon is 15 years. In contrast, murders where the gun was deliberately brought to the crime scene carry a minimum prison sentence of 25 years.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is currently consulting with the Sentencing Council to close this 10-year gap to ensure domestic homicides are treated with similar seriousness.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said: “For centuries the law has failed to protect women from intimate partner violence – whether marital rape or abuse behind closed doors.
“While we have made significant progress, we must continue to right these wrongs.
“This change closes a long-overdue loophole and will ensure that those who kill their partners face sentences that better reflect the devastating harm they cause.”
More than a fifth of all murders are domestic, and the victims in those cases are mostly women, the Justice Department said.
A 2022 study found that women were killed by men in more than a quarter of all murder cases in England and Wales in recent years.
The House of Commons library’s research found that in 28 per cent of all murder cases in the five years before the study, women were the main suspects and men were the victims.
The report stated that 2,350 murders were committed between April 2016 and March 2021, 668 of which were women killed by men.
Two to three women are killed by their partners or ex-partners every week in England and Wales.
One in every four women is exposed to domestic violence at some point in her life; Domestic abuse has a higher repeat victimization rate than other crimes.
The national domestic violence helpline offers support to women on 0808 2000 247 or visit: Asylum website. There is a special section men’s advice line on 0808 8010 327. US residents can call the domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). You can reach other international helplines at: www.befrienders.org
