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