On 17th September, members of the group Killed Women were at Westminster to launch their Black & Blue Plaques: 'Killed Here' campaign in conjunction with Earnies creative communications agency.
Killed Women was initiated by Carole Gould and Julie Devey, both lost their daughters in tragic circumstance which saw their murderers handed sentences 10 years shorter than they would have been if the murders had happened outside the home.
Carole's daughter Ellie, was just 17 years old when she was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend Thomas Griffiths at her family home in Springfield Drive, Calne in 2019.
Griffiths was later sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison. Following the murder, Carole Gould has worked tirelessly to campaign for tougher sentences for violence against women and girls.
Julie Devey's daughter, Poppy Devey Waterhouse, was only 24 when she was stabbed multiple times by her ex-partner Joe Atkinson in 2018, resulting in a sentence of just over 16 years.
Both Poppy and Ellie are remembered on the black and blue plaques temporarily placed at the sites of their murders. The other five honour Julie Butcher, 25, from Swindon, Elinor O'Brien, 22, from Manchester, Jan Mustafa, 38, from London, Megan Newborough, 23, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, and Claire Tavener (nee Willmott), from Nailsea, Somerset.
On Tuesday the campaign group Killed Women took the 7 blue plaques, each bearing the name of their loved ones and the prison sentence their murderers received, and stood united on the lawn at Westminster.
Under current laws, if a murderer has brought a weapon to a scene with intent to kill, he or she would expect to be jailed for 25 years. However, if you kill someone with a weapon already at the scene the starting point is 15 years. Killed Women said: “Sentencing for women murdered in the home by a domestic weapon is unfair. Currently, murderers receive around ten years less in prison for killing in the home than they do if they kill on the street - which is insulting to the victims and their families.”
“We want the symbolism of these plaques to raise this issue in the House of Commons. The Government showed a refreshing approach to the riots this summer and we want this issue to be granted the same attention, in honouring the pledges made by the previous Government. While this won’t bring our loved one’s home, at the very least, families of future victims will be consoled by the knowledge that justice has been served.”
Photos courtesy of killedwomen.org
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