To think you don’t “accidentally” strangle someone to death?

[DrizzleandDamp]

I give up, no murder conviction for this man:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8884251/Police-officer-41-not-guilty-murdering-wife.html

There is no point me pursuing my case when these are the decisions made!

The whole thing was hideous from beginning to end and while his crime was undoubtedly worse the actual victims here were the families...

The woman who died was also a victim. As I said in my now deleted post: adultery is not a capital offence. No one deserves to die for it. I feel a massive amount of sorrow for the lady, her family especially her children and her killer’s wife and children. The death of this woman which he caused has wrecked more lives than the actual adultery between the killer and his victim.

twitter.com/BarristerSecret/status/1321425591531425792?s=19

A summary of what the defense appears to have gone for and an explanation of sentencing guidelines.

That's really interesting @Lockheart thanks for sharing.

Alternative

This is victim blaming bullshit.

Also, happy to be corrected as I'm not at all knowledgeable in these matters and have never set foot on a court room but surely the affair itself had bugger all to do with prosecuting him for his actions leading to her death? I could have an affair a month for my entire life and that would never excuse the actions in this case.

Or is it a bit like that old chestnut ...

Look how short her skirt was,
Look how much she was throwing herself at him
Look how drunk she was
It's bit surprising she was raped.

Women will always be to blame for their own assaults, rapes and murder at the hands of men.

Apologies, that should read It's no* surprise

tellme

That post was exactly the same as the examples you’ve given. MN have deleted it. It beggars belief the lengths some posters will go to in order to not put the blame entirely on the man doing the violence.

@tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz

Also, happy to be corrected as I'm not at all knowledgeable in these matters and have never set foot on a court room but surely the affair itself had bugger all to do with prosecuting him for his actions leading to her death? I could have an affair a month for my entire life and that would never excuse the actions in this case.

Or is it a bit like that old chestnut ...

Look how short her skirt was,
Look how much she was throwing herself at him
Look how drunk she was
It's bit surprising she was raped.

Women will always be to blame for their own assaults, rapes and murder at the hands of men.

Affairs are expressly ruled out as qualifying triggers for the loss of control defence.

In this case however, the heinous wrong which this woman committed and apparently justified to some degree her murder was to send his wife a text revealing their affair.

Thus, the court heard, depriving him of the opportunity to do so himself.

I this this is an astonishingly low threshold.

*Affairs are expressly ruled out as qualifying triggers for the loss of control defence.

In this case however, the heinous wrong which this woman committed and apparently justified to some degree her murder was to send his wife a text revealing their affair.

Thus, the court heard, depriving him of the opportunity to do so himself.

I this this is an astonishingly low threshold.*

Agree with the astonishingly low threshold. He got angry and strangled her because she told his wife instead of him telling her. I don’t see why that should make it some kind of exceptional circumstance that makes it almost understandable that he kill someone.

@Lockheart

twitter.com/BarristerSecret/status/1321425591531425792?s=19

A summary of what the defense appears to have gone for and an explanation of sentencing guidelines.

From this it shows that he used the 'loss of control' defence. Which means that he did mean to kill her but due to 'loss of control' was convicted of manslaughter.

This defence was introduced in 2010, partially as a defence for victims of abuse who lose their control due to a serious fear of violence. And what we have here is unintended consequences of a well meaning piece of legislation.

Looking at it the starting point for Murder is 15 years without a weapon so the fact the judge looked at around 14 years and went to 12 years 6 months (before a reduction due to pleading guilty)

The judge giving the sentencing I thought was very good clear and concise as to what happened and his beliefs. He hasnt gotten away with this - 7 years (minimum) (its normal to serve 2/3 of a sentence) isnt that far off what he may well have gotten anyway

I think this shows that the loss of control defence does mean a serious prison time

What I think does need looking at is that if you use a weapon the starting point is 25 years. But actually some people dont need to use weapons

Thanks @Quartz2208 and @Lockheart for explaining things a bit more clearly.

In my mind, with absolutely no experience of the legal system, it still feels that sentencing has become more lenient in recent times and that taking a life is not seen as as big a deal as it was in the past, but that may be just my perception.

And in my view, if you take a person’s life by force, whatever the method, whether pre-planned or not, you are a murderer...

"This defence was introduced in 2010, partially as a defence for victims of abuse who lose their control due to a serious fear of violence.

And what we have here is unintended consequences of a well meaning piece of legislation."

How was it decided then that loss of control was applicable in this case I wonder`?

Watermelon999 Really? You can’t think of circumstances where that wouldn’t be the case?

How was it decided then that loss of control was applicable in this case I wonder`?

Indeed.

@watermelon999 I think there is probably some truth in that - and that we have a perception that it does mean life. Even though it rarely does

www.defence-barrister.co.uk/life-sentences sums it up well I think.

Sadly nothing surprises me anymore. My Mother’s best friend was murdered by her boyfriend over 20 years ago now, she had two then teenage children who have never quite got over the loss of their Mother. He slit her throat but still somehow got manslaughter, yes because I am always accidentally slitting peoples throats. He was given a 7 year sentence and was out after 4 for ‘good behaviour’.

Poor poor woman and poor husband and family

Good that the sentence was significant and good to see some of the accompanying remarks. Is it available in full anywhere?

I remember a case where someone threw a remote control at their partner. By a freak chance it killed them

They got manslaughter which I think is reasonable

Quite different to ‘severe’ violence inflicted on someone in a car which broke three bones

@Watermelon999

In my mind, with absolutely no experience of the legal system, it still feels that sentencing has become more lenient in recent times and that taking a life is not seen as as big a deal as it was in the past, but that may be just my perception.

This is a common misconception. The prison population has increased by about 28% since 2000, and governments (both Tory and Labour) have consistently increased sentencing guidelines

Sentencing is definitely getting tougher