Man "snaps' and kills wife, sentenced to 5 years

[snowballer]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-56109330

This is just so depressing. I understand it couldn't be shown to be premeditated and therefore murder, but how can it be such a short sentence in view of the fact she was found with keys in hand trying to escape and it wasn't therefore something that happened in the space of a few seconds? Manslaughter sentences can still be hefty - I just can't understand this. Just another devastating end of a life for a woman at the hands of a man, with another miserably short sentence for the perpetrator. Awful. Just awful.

This was Dr Jessica Taylor’s take via her Facebook page. I agree with every word:

“This is fucking atrocious and I am raging!

The entire offence and context and his shitty excuses clearly show it was murder.

The fuck is his daughter doing defending him as well.

“Ms Williams said her father told her he thought he was going to "lose the house and not be able to pay the bills" despite having no mortgage on their house and £148,000 in savings.”

Ya what!!?

‘Consultant psychiatrist Dr Alison Witts said she believed Williams' mental health had dramatically deteriorated after retiring in 2019 and the coronavirus pandemic had made it worse.’

Ooh yeah slide some bullshit psych in there to claim it was his mental health

The excuses men use for killing their wives and gfs are horrific - we need to just stop listening to them.

We need to turn around and say...

“You literally followed your wife, strangled her until she died and broke bones in her neck pal, you’re a fucking murderer.”

Men killing their kids or female partner is NOT a symptom or consequence of ‘mental health issues’ ...or the pandemic.

And we need to stop feeding into these weak ass excuses”

5 years?! That’s utter bullshit!! He’ll likely only serve 2.5 years.

The lives of women are so worthless. Bastard. That sentence should be referred to the attorney general for being unduly lenient.

I thought the point of the daughter’s comment about money worries to be that they were so irrational that they pointed to a serious mental health problem.

This has really upset me too. I can't believe it.

Absolutely outrageous.
Five fucking years for killing your wife. He should be in jail for the rest of his life.

"5 years?! That’s utter bullshit!! He’ll likely only serve 2.5 years."

No. He'll serve at least 85% of it in custody. So 4 years and 3 months.

Eugh. Just, eugh. I wish I could say I was surprised.

Men who beat women should be permanently tattooed as a danger to all women !men are now literally getting away with murder I'm not surprised by this it's outrageous and sickening!

Just want to echo the horror of it that other people have expressed. Five years! It is as though she and her life did not count. And he will be out in two and a half years or less. It is appalling.

Not surprised. We all know that women's lives count for little. The patriarchy is still alive and well.

That photo of him on your link OP, he doesn't look at all sad or repentent does he ?

I read this yesterday and it made me so sad A woman close to me had an abusive ex-H who would beat her up, she managed to leave him and is now very happy. This poor woman was sadly not able to do so. I think the fact that she had keys in her hand makes it all the more tragic; for him to have been given such a short sentence makes me sick.

His adult daughter defended him and gave evidence that he was a gentle giant.

Now, she must know much more than any of us on here.

But she may well know very little about what the relationship between her parents was truly like. Some things stay between the four walls and look very different from the outside.

I am outraged by this judgment and I hope this is going to be reviewed. The poor woman, RIP.

What gets me is the phrase he used where he said that he 'choked the living daylights' out of her, that isn't the sort of phrase that you would use if you had any remorse whatsoever. To me, it's more the sort of thing a bloke would say when bragging to his mates 'oh yeh, I choked the living daylights out of the bitch, that'll teach her'.

Like everyone else, I'm just thoroughly shocked that he's got away with what was clearly murder.

Timely reminder to complete this survey for those who may not have already
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/violence-against-women-and-girls-vawg-call-for-evidence

Absolutely awful to hear. 5 Years - No justice atall for that poor woman.

Only 5 days into the first lockdown too. How can that be used as one of his reasons for his defence.

I worry for my daughters futute at times and how women's lives aren't valued as much as men's. So depressing and utterly sad 😥

"I just flipped, it wasn't me. I wouldn't hurt a fly, it wasn't me, I'm not like that and I don't know what came over me."
Wouldn't hurt a fly, just women he kills

It’s obscene. The courts show how little value they place on women’s lives on a regular basis but even knowing that this is a shocking case.

I’m not defending him but have any of you seen the transcripts of the trial or the judges statement
If not, then this reaction should wait. None of us actually know what the jury heard or saw to make them come to this conclusion.

What has the jury got to do with sentencing???

Well I mean the jury in that they found him guilty of man slaughter not murder - for a reason.

The judges sentencing remarks have not been published in full.

It’s horrific.
It really does beg the question why are women’s lives deemed so worthless.

Interesting that he claims to have found lockdown hard after just five days. And whilst the one psychologist mentioned above supported his claim of deteriorating mental health that impaired his ability to exercise self-control; The Guardian article quotes another, Dr Damian Gamble, as saying Williams had no documented history of suffering a depressive illness and had “no psychiatric defences” available to him, saying he believed Williams “knew what he was doing at the time”.

5 years is a terribly short sentence.
RIP Ruth.

And I am personally hoping it’s some shit judge with crap sexist views and i the sentence gets over turned. But I would also be interested to read what he actually said in full before jumping to conclusions.

How can this sentence be reviewed? Is there a mechanism or anything we can do?

A disgusting sentence and shows society doesn't value the life of a woman. I just snapped is not an excuse.