Feetham considers following UK move to increase domestic murder sentences

Murderers who kill their partner or ex-partner at home could face an extra 10 years in prison, the UK Government announced on Tuesday, with Gibraltar considering following suit if the change is confirmed.

Most domestic murders have a 15-year sentencing starting point under current UK law because they take place in the home with a weapon most likely already at the scene.

Under UK law, for murders where a weapon is taken to the scene with intent, the starting point is 25 years.

The UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it is consulting with the Sentencing Council to close the 10-year gap and treat domestic murders with the same severity.

Judges in Gibraltar follow UK sentencing guidelines and judicial precedent when deciding how to deal with people convicted of serious offences.

While sentences in Gibraltar tend to mirror the approach in the UK in most cases, judicial discretion and local precedent also mean they need not be strictly identical.

In Gibraltar, the Minister for Justice, Nigel Feetham, said he is considering this under a wider review of legislation.

“We are undertaking a wider review of the legislation like we have done for sexual offending especially against children, and this also forms part of the issues being considered,” Mr Feetham told the Chronicle.

After the announcement on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy described how for centuries, the law failed to protect women from violence at the hands of their partner, whether from marital rape or from abuse behind closed doors.

“Whilst we’ve made significant progress, we need to continue righting these wrongs,” Mr Lammy said.

“This change closes a long overdue gap and will ensure those who murder their partner face sentences that better reflect the devastating harm they cause.”

In the UK more than a fifth of all murders are domestic, and overwhelmingly women are the victims in these cases, the MoJ said.

Carole Gould, Julie Devey and Elaine Newborough, from the charity Killed Women, said the UK Government has “finally done the right thing”.

The trio, who are the mothers of three young women killed in their homes by former partners, said in a statement: “At last, women’s lives are being valued as highly as men’s.

“It has long been unjust that those who murder them routinely receive substantially lighter sentences simply because the murder weapon, such as a kitchen knife, was already there, rather than brought to the scene.

“We have been campaigning relentlessly on this issue for seven years to persuade the state just how dangerous these men are. We have lost our daughters – Poppy, Ellie and Megan – to such men.

“Anyone who can murder someone they once loved – often the mother of their children – using such extreme violence is clearly a serious threat, not only to other women but to the public.

“We welcome the Government’s decision.

“We feel that finally, after lots of heads nodding and warm words without action, we are seeing the fruits of our heart-breaking and unwanted labour.

“Over seven long years we have met with seven Lord Chancellors, each being sympathetic, but it is this Lord Chancellor, David Lammy MP, who has finally done the right thing.

“What drove us was knowing, categorically, that the current sentencing guidelines are wrong.”

Mr Lammy added: “I pay tribute to Carole Gould, Julie Devey and Elaine Newborough, whose courageous campaign will help future mothers, daughters and wives get the justice they deserve.”