Natalie Connolly

Rough sex can no longer be used as a defence but it has taken an horrendous death for that to happen.

Is there a petition or any kind of existing campaign we can lend our numbers to? It is such an intolerable injustice.

Her case is so horrific and so unjust. People power stopped the prolific sex attacker John Worboys from being released just weeks before he was due to be; isn't there anything that can be done? It's so clearly a miscarriage of justice, it led to the law being changed FFS. Such a dangerous man being let out so soon makes me feel sick.

This is terrifying and gives a message to all abusers of women "crack on lads, nothing to see here" the judiciary will have blood on tbeir hands when he does it again.

I just hope karma catches up to him because our legal system don't seem to care.

I agree with pp who mentioned kink shaming and porn. One of the reasons I left Twitter was an awful "conversation" I had with someone on there about how they thought rape porn is an acceptable thing to share as apparently its mainly women who enjoy it😒😡. Men like this and their enablers make my blood boil, what is the fucking point of the anyway?

It is a travesty. I am full of impotent rage over this, and wish I had somewhere to funnel it. I guess, just carry on campaigning against the normalisation of porn and the relentless march of queer theory over women’s boundaries.

I think there was a strong element of moral judgement in this case e.g. for her being into BDSM type stuff. As if it excused her horrific and v v v severe injuries. Noone can consent to their own death. It beggars belief.

As others have said, Natalie's sadistic killer is a danger to every woman he targets for a relationship. This is an indictment of the justice system which has failed to keep him where he belongs - behind bars for decades. As PP have said, I hope her friends and family can find a way to make this thug pay although it is a poor substitute for criminal justice.

I agree with nepeta and pp about this. I cannot understand how the defense was allowed to assert that this was 'consensual' given Natalie's alcohol levels. The judge is a disgrace.

womansplaceuk.org/justice-for-natalie-connolly/

I would certainly contribute to a crowdfunder if Natalie's family have any legal options whatsoever left to pursue.

Me too.

If the roles were reversed...

If he had tortured a male stranger or friend to death, and stepped over his dying body, would he be released from prison so quickly?

Why is murdering your girlfriend so much less serious than murdering anyone else?

Sadistic excuse for a man gets sexual pleasure from torturing another human being to death... yet he will be free to roam the streets and form relationships with women who may have no clue about his past?

Just tried to donate to the Centre for women’s justice, but its paypal or create an account, which it wont let me do ??
Or send a cheque, wheres my ruddy cheque book..?
God I’m begging to really hate men.
Who was the judge on this caste ? Anyone know

I don't believe in karma but I hope it catches up with this guy.

It's quite unbelievable. Less than two years is a travesty.

I can't imagine the depth of despair and anger her family and friends must feel.

That poor woman and her family. I feel tearful and angry reading this, how must her family feel ? This isn’t justice. It is horrific to read about her injuries as a total stranger, I think I would be deranged with anger and grief if this was my daughter, sister, friend.

moofolk:
"It has permeated society that women can consent to their own abuse and ultimately murder."

This. If we are not there yet, we are approaching this point rapidly. Other views relate to all this, too, such as the exhortation not to kink shame. When you put all the different strand together you get an environment where most don't question the new 'norms.'

I would have thought that society would have progressed in the (almost) 40 years since the mustard pot provocation defence; sadly its got worse. Corlett said he lost it because his wife had moved the mustard pot and got 3 years for manslaughter, Broadhurst who sexually & physically tortured his partner then left her alone to die got 44 months & served less than half. It's a bloody travesty

@nepeta totally agree with your analysis.

Porn and the normalisation of violence against women because 'they love it' is, even if not behind the violence itself (although I think it most likely is), is certainly behind the lenient response to these men.

It has permeated society that women can consent to their own abuse and ultimately murder.

@FannyCann that's an interesting idea I'd be interested in perusing in their situation but i can imagine why he family might not want to put themselves through it.

The system is skewed against women

Unbelievable. Hats off to Mark Garnier for working with Harriet Harman to change legislation. He was obviously deeply affected by this case and remains so.

I would certainly contribute to a crowdfunder if Natalie's family have any legal options whatsoever left to pursue.

It's no justice for Natalie but could Natalie's family bring a private prosecution or sue? At least it could cost the bastard a few £££ which is the only thing people like that care about and could provide some security for her children?

Wasn't OJ Simpson found guilty in the private court case that Nicole Brown's family brought due to a lower standard of evidence?

I wonder if Centre for Women’s justice will say anything about this? www.centreforwomensjustice.org.uk/ they are a brilliant charity. There may be no legal block to this but I wish there was.
He’s clearly incredibly dangerous and this is hardly a punishment at all.

This is so unspeakably wrong.

One of the troubling trends JK Rowling mentioned in the material which caused her persecution was this trend towards greater supposedly consensual violence against women in sex.

It was born from widespread porn use by heterosexual men, the growing acceptance of that and the male view of what sex is all about as a mainstream view, and the belief that masochism is one of the determining traits of female sexuality. The neofeminists added to that the idea that sex work is empowering and that being objectified in sex is also empowering.

To state any of the above causes people to call you all sorts of names as a SWERF or a prude. But there's hardly anything written today about what women might actually like in sex that wouldn't come from staged porn or that wouldn't privilege male sexuality.

Apologies for not focusing on the horrible central topic of this thread more. I do think, though, that it is this trend which makes it so easy not to prosecute rapes in the UK, and it is this trend which made the rough sex defense so common.

The 26-year-old victim was left to die in a pool of blood at the bottom of a flight of stairs ... She suffered more than 40 injuries, including a 'blow-out' fracture to her left eye, bruising and internal injuries

And his next victim? When you’ve killed a woman, and been quite open about it, and you stroll out of prison a couple of years later — what do you do next?