******TRIGGER WARNING Powerful message from a midwife (re. the murder of Natalie Connolly) TRIGGER WARNING ******

[WTFIsAGleepglorp]

Relax, it's not a trans thread.

It's about the horrific murder of Natalie Connolly.

twitter.com/ThatMidwife/status/1075808892477693952?s=19

Who's writing to the Attorney General?

[WTFIsAGleepglorp]

Dammit

twitter.com/ThatMidwife/status/1075808892477693952?s=19

[abbsisspartacus]

That's horrific that poor woman

[feministfairy]

Woman's Hour has a very powerful discussion with Harriet Harman here:
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0001l78

I have written to the Attorney General. It's such an awful case.

[GimmeGimmeHellYeah]

Oh that poor poor woman. No-one consents to that.

[alansleftfoot]

Is there a petition anywhere about this ?

[Degustibusnonestdisputandem1]

I am unspeakably angry about this sentence. What message does it give about how women are (not) valued? 🤬🤬🤬

[DonkeysEars]

I feel sick :(

That poor woman.

[Neurotrash]

Fucking hell. No woman has ever freely consented to that.

[RogueV]

Horrific. Poor woman

[womanformallyknownaswoman]

Again we find a man’s horrific violence towards a woman is excused, downplayed, minimised and he deemed incapable of deliverately taking advantage of her vulnerability and inability to give consent whilst the victim’s character is smeared by her perpetrator and murderer and miraculously accepted as fact.

Do judges ever get reviewed for bias towards their sex? This judgement and sentence is totally not ok on so many levels.

[failingatlife]

Part of me wishes I hadn't read that. Also sad that Natalie's family will be suffering knowing the horrific ordeal she went through.
Beggars belief this bastard will be free in less than 2 yrs. RIP Natalie

[museumum]

It’s illegal to ask for help with suicide. So it’s not possible to consent to be killed. So she cannot have consented.

[donajimena]

What the actual fuck? I thought nothing could shock me these days

[starzig]

Was her drinks spiked to have such a high alcohol level?

[HumberElla]

Utterly contemptible that anyone examining this evidence or involved in sentencing could conclude this was consensual and give such a light sentence for that reason. I don’t care if there were lawful reasons for the sentence. The law is not fit for purpose.

[R0wantrees]

Independent article:

Anger is mounting over the “outrageous” prison sentence handed to a millionaire who claimed his girlfriend died accidentally after “rough sex”.

John Broadhurst’s punishment could be reviewed by the attorney general after an MP added her voice to those saying it did not fit the crime.

Broadhurst was sentenced to three years and eight months' imprisonment over the death of Natalie Connolly, whose body was found with horrific wounds at his home near Stourbridge.

Birmingham Crown Court heard the 26-year-old mother had suffered 40 separate injuries, including serious internal trauma, a fractured eye socket and facial wounds, and was bleeding heavily.

Opening the trial, prosecutors told the jury that “whatever may have started willingly, there is no way that Natalie either consented to or was able to consent to what John Broadhurst did to her after that, leading to her untimely, unseemly and tragic death”.

Nimco Ali, co-founder of the Daughters of Eve charity, called the jail term “outrageous”, adding: “Women are not objects for men’s sick fantasies and this sentence is a joke.”

Lord McConnell, a Labour peer, wrote on Twitter: “Very hard to avoid the conclusion that his sentence would have been much more harsh if he was not so rich.”

The Labour MP Harriet Harman, who served as solicitor general, called for the sentence to be formally reviewed and has asked the CPS why they did not proceed with a murder charge.

She said she was “horrified” by the judge’s sentencing remarks, adding: “Who gave evidence of this ‘happy relationship?’ The offender? Not the victim, obviously, as he’d killed her.” (continues)

Ms Harman raised concern that the case could set a legal precedent, adding: “When a woman is dead she can’t speak for herself. Any man charged with killing a current or former partner or prostitute could simply say she wanted it.”​

The attorney general’s office confirmed it was considering a member of the public’s request to review the case under the unduly lenient sentence scheme, which could see Broadhurst’s prison sentence increased at the Court of Appeal.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/rough-sex-death-millionaire-john-broadhurst-murder-natalie-connolly-case-sentence-prison-jail-term-a8689366.html

[Soontobe60]

Horrific! The fact that she was so enebriated proves she was not able to give informed consent. And what person in their right mind would actually give consent to such a heinous act?

[womanformallyknownaswoman]

And the family’s statement regarding their daughter and sister was not read in court - so the murderer’s version of her as the depraved woman stands and is reported by the media as fact - the media also have a lot to answer for by spreading his insidious lies as though they were a legitimate version of the truth

[arranbubonicplague]

From FiLIA who are recommending that we should write to/email the AG and have a template letter for anyone who'd like a basis to adapt to their own protest.

If you believe the brutal murder of a woman deserves more than 3 years, 8 months in prison, write to the Attorney General to demand an appeal. You have only 28 days to register this complaint. You can send a letter by post to:
Attorney General
Geoffrey Cox QC
5-8 The Sanctuary
london
SW1P 3JS
or via e mail to:
[email protected]
If you need any help with wording, please cut, paste, amend and make the following your own and please share:
FAO Geoffrey Cox
I am writing to you to reconsider both the charge (manslaughter by gross negligence, rather than murder) and the subsequent sentencing of only 40 months of John Broadhurstat Birrmingham Crown Court. following his brutal killing of Natalie Connolly. Not only did she received over 40 injuries, but she was also callously left to die when perhaps medical intervention could have saved her life.
The so called mitigation of ‘rough sex gone wrong’ sets a dangerous precedent to excuse extreme violence against women. I therefore believe that this sentence is unduly lenient. I ask that this case is referred to the court of appeal.

From FiLIA's FB

[WTFIsAGleepglorp]

Good to know it's not just me.

Natalie Connolly was murdered as far as I'm concerned.

[womanformallyknownaswoman]

Her poor daughter and relatives having all those lies about their loved one broadcast and amplified - what a vile misrepresentation of what transpired and such shoddy justice (sic).

And what has happened to truth and investigative reporting? Replaced in the main by click bait salacious headlines that demean this victim and hence all women. Seems like a vast number of men have a hand in promoting a “legitimate” defence of a male murderer of women - ie she asked for it

[HumberElla]

So. Does that now give anyone the freedom to torture and kill as long as they say the dead person wanted it? Because now it’s apparently a much less punishable offence to kill someone if they say (or are perceived) they wanted to be hurt a bit? Because that is surely a very dangerous legal precedent to set. This utterly disgusting individual may only do half that prison sentence in reality. A gift for anyone with a penchant for killing women for larks. Especially men who are financially independent and unlikely to sufffer any wider consequences of their actions.

[Melanippe]

The rough sex gone wrong defence for killing a woman seems to be becoming more prevalent, a while ago there was a man who sexually assaulted a woman with a shampoo bottle so violently it ended up lodged in her abdomen and she died over a longish period from peritonitis. He said she wanted it, but, and I'd guess because he wasn't a millionaire, he's doing life for her murder.

I cannot urge people enough to write in. Natalie Connolly has no voice now, we are honour bound to speak for her and demand justice.

[arranbubonicplague]

Majella Lynch was the woman who died as a consequence of the assault with the shampoo bottle.

McBride was sentenced to 29 years:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-33714597

[ToeToToe]

Omg - I knew the vague outline of the case - but the details are horrific. I want to cry for that woman, and all of us and our daughters

We really are under attack from all directions.