Mums whose daughters have been murdered by ex-partners hope OBEs shine mild on injustice

Two mums whose daughters were murdered by their former partners have been honoured for campaigning in their memory.

Bereaved Carole Gould and Julie Devey, who set up Killed Women, a group supporting families affected by male violence, were awarded OBEs in the New Year’s Honours List. Carole’s daughter Ellie and Julie’s daughter Poppy were murdered in their homes after ending their relationships with their killers.

They have demanded for tougher sentences for those convicted of murders in the home. In a joint statement the campaigners said: “By accepting the OBEs it will continue to shine a light on our campaigning and will keep the many unjust issues surrounding violence against women and girls in the spotlight.

“Getting this far has been really hard and emotionally draining and, of course, will not bring our darling daughters back, but as we learn more and more about the injustices, and more and more families reach out to us, we are fired up to continue our work.

“A bereaved mother is not to be messed with.” Carole and Julie hope to see an increase in the starting tariff for murders in the home, from 15 years to 25 years, the same as for killings outside the home.

They say it is “insulting and disrespectful to those women to say that their lives are worth 10 years less”.

Carole’s daughter, Ellie, 17, was stabbed to death at her home in Calne, Wiltshire, in 2019, by her boyfriend, Thomas Griffiths, after she ended their relationship. Griffiths then staged the scene to make it appear as though she had inflicted the fatal wounds herself.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years and six months. Poppy, 24, was murdered by her ex-partner, Joe Atkinson, in Leeds in 2018, after the end of their three-year relationship. Atkinson was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years and 310 days.