Andrew Griffiths Coercive control

[SapatSea]

Many of you will remember the case of Andrews Griffiths from a few years back - an MP who sent "lewd" texts to two women. He resigned but was cleared of wrong doing by the Parliamentary Standards Committee. The family court has now found he raped his wife (who took over his Parliamentary seat) and used coercive control to abuse her. No surprise to find he also has a porn addiction.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-59611761

He must have believed he’d get away with raping, physically assaulting and coercively controlling his wife. Good to see a family court judge making such strong findings. Good to see investigative journalists ensuring it was made public and, well done the 3 appeal judges who rejected his appeal against it being made public

Ms Griffiths is a very brave woman.

💪 Kate Griffiths.

Wondering if an actual criminal trial will follow? Or will this be like the Johnny Depp thing where a court with no jurisdiction in criminal matters called him a wife beater of Amber Heard but nothing ever came of it because it wasn’t a criminal court?

Just saw this.

The headline for that BBC article is "Ex-Tory minister Andrew Griffiths found to have raped wife", so, they're not mincing their words.

I enjoy it that she took over his seat when he stood down

Yes, watching with interest for any criminal trial, where of course it would have to be "beyond reasonable doubt" rather than "balance of probabilities."

@WalkOnGildedSplinters

💪 Kate Griffiths.

This.

Here's the link to the Times article on this.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ex-tory-minister-andrew-griffiths-raped-and-abused-wife-0q6t2h69z?shareToken=992237c5c4d7017811af9bc176a56688

And the DM article
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10296911/Tory-minister-51-repeatedly-raped-abused-wife-nearly-decade-judge-finds.html

He sounds utterly, utterly vile and as if he thinks all of this is acceptable. Doesn't deny the behaviour but disagrees with the description of it as offensive in some way.

I wonder what he is doing now- earning lots of money in a job given to him by one of his Tory business cronies perhaps?

One wonders what will emerge next from male Tory MPs.

Not only a useless, lying MP but also an abuser and rapist. I really feel for Kate, whilst I don't agree with her politics she seems like a lovely woman and is well liked in Burton.

I wonder what he is doing now- earning lots of money in a job given to him by one of his Tory business cronies perhaps?

If they have any self-interest, I'd doubt many would want to be associated with him. Especially given that presumably the Burton constituency must have been (to their credit!) supportive of Ms Griffiths, for her to replace him as their candidate and be elected.

@EmpressCixi

Wondering if an actual criminal trial will follow? Or will this be like the Johnny Depp thing where a court with no jurisdiction in criminal matters called him a wife beater of Amber Heard but nothing ever came of it because it wasn’t a criminal court?

It's a civil court. He has not been found guilty of anything and it doesn't follow that he will as the standard of proof in civil courts is the lower "balance of probability".

It might be argued that he wouldn't be able to have a fair trial now, after this publicity. I would guess Ms Griffiths wants to get on with her work now, and may consider that this judgement and coverage serves sufficiently.

Gerry Healy, Eric Joyce, Comrade D of the Swuppies and countless other dudebros, have impeccable lefty credentials, so I'm not sure there's a a political point to score in this.

Looks like Charlie Elphicke (2 years for sexual assault but out in 1 year)hasn't found a crony to give him a job yet. Although some colleagues, including his wife (who now has his seat) were found by the Commons Standards committee to have tried to influence legal proceedings. What a shower!

I was surprised he only had £51k as an equity share of his marital home and claims he is in financial diffs.
www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/19/ex-mp-charlie-elphicke-jailed-for-sexual-assault-now-claiming-universal-credit

There is a big thread on Pistonheads about this and I’m genuinely astonished at how many men are angrily defending Griffiths on the rape finding on the basis that it’s not a criminal conviction therefore it’s her word against his.

It really does feel like a lot of men perceive an accusation of rape against one man as a slight on all men and most likely false.

@ParkingDiagram

There is a big thread on Pistonheads about this and I’m genuinely astonished at how many men are angrily defending Griffiths on the rape finding on the basis that it’s not a criminal conviction therefore it’s her word against his.

It really does feel like a lot of men perceive an accusation of rape against one man as a slight on all men and most likely false.

I don’t think it’s that they think it’s a slight on all men, I think they feel vulnerable to such accusations themselves.

Partly because it does seem scary that someone could accuse you of something serious and without any physical evidence be believed. But largely because most men have been coercive about sex at some point, it’s still part of our culture to see sex as something that women “give up” and that men “try and get”. In the 80s and 90s it was a standard part of movies and lots of TV shows. The stuff coming out of schools about girls being pressured for naked photos shows it’s still ubiquitous and a power imbalance that starts at the beginning of people’s sex lives..

I read this earlier this week.

www.tortoisemedia.com/2021/12/10/griffiths-v-griffiths/

Thanks to Tortoise for pursuing this.

KATE GRIFFITHS!

KATE GRIFFITHS!

KATE GRIFFITHS!

G'wan yirsel', hen.

Acktewlly, what is this woman's own name? Fucking Qween. Good for her.