Government to decrease home abuse age after teen Holly Newton’s homicide

The government is looking at lowering the age that domestic abuse victims are recognised by law, following the murder 15-year-old Holly Newton.

Last January Holly, from Hexham, Northumberland, was stabbed to death by ex-boyfriend Logan MacPhail, then 16. Holly’s distraught mother Micala Trussler has been campaigning for the age a person can be legally recognised as a domestic abuse victim to be lowered.

She is also calling for schools to be better at educating young people about what constitutes domestic abuse so they know “what is normal and what is not normal”. Currently in UK law, both the abuser and the victim must be over 16 for it to be considered a domestic abuse crime.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC: “We will specifically look at this, because we need to make sure that we have got the right ways of recording this kind of violence in teenage relationships. I do think that this is an extremely important issue and we have to take seriously the points that they have made.”

Killed Women co-founder Carole Gould, whose daughter Ellie, 17, was murdered by boyfriend 17-year-old Thomas Griffith back in 2019, tells the Mirror that it is important for the age to be lowered in order to raise awareness. “I think it should be 12,” explains Carole, from Calne, Wiltshire. “It will kick start a lot of other statutory things and give kids more the chance to talk about this more in education, this particular issue.”

She explains that, especially with coercive control behaviours where abusive patterns often creep in, there needs to be more education in schools. “Lowering the age will raise awareness of domestic abuse so that young people can recognize the signs. Including the perpetrators as they might think, “That’s how I am treating my girlfriend. I’m stalking her, wanting to know where she is. Then they might just realise they’ve got a problem and learn to deal with it, you know, get some help.”

Carole, 53, also explained that this law change could help kids that grew up in abusive homes, to know what dynamics are not right. “It might prompt teens to look the way their father is talking and treating the mother. We’ve we’ve got to just break that cycle of just thinking, well, that’s just how it is behind closed doors. That’s a domestic.”

Carole started Killed Women alongside co-founder Julie Devey to campaign for longer sentences for domestic killers, and to end the disparity in murder sentencing. 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. This is change in the law is something the Mirror’s Justice For Our Daughters campaign is also calling for.

JUSTICE FOR OUR DAUGHTERS

Last year, an estimated 75 women in Britain were killed at home by their partner. They were mums, daughters, grans, sisters and friends. But in the eyes of the law, their murderers don’t deserve the same punishment as a killer in the streets.

OUR DEMANDS

1 Longer sentences for domestic abuse killers

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. The law should be updated so these domestic violence killers receive 25 years too.

2 Longer sentences for murder by strangulation

A quarter of domestic homicides are by strangulation. The law should be updated so that when someone is fatally strangled the method of killing is regarded as an aggravating factor and carries a longer sentence.

3 Domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms

For victims of domestic abuse to be given immediate access to trained specialists in police control rooms, in line with Labour’s pledge.

4 Domestic abusers to face manslaughter charges if victims take their own lives

Coercive control and abuse perpetrators should face legal consequences in line with the suffering they have caused.

HOW TO HELP

Add your name to the “coercive control by manslaughter” petition by May 1

WHERE TO GET HELP

If you or a loved one are affected by domestic violence contact Refuge’s NationalDomestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit Refuge.