Sentences for killer ex-partners 'still not enough'

Joanna Simpson, 46, was killed by her husband Robert Brown in 2010

Government plans to increase sentences for jealous ex-partners who kill or strangle their victims do not go far enough, a campaigner has said.

Hetti Barkworth-Nanton's friend, Joanna Simpson, was killed by her husband in 2010.

Ms Barkworth-Nanton said the changes were the right "direction of travel" but did not address the disparity between starting sentences for homicides committed inside and outside the home.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the Law Commission was reviewing the sentencing framework for murder, and the law of homicide.

"Sentencing for domestic murder is a complex issue which requires wholesale reform rather than piecemeal change," they said, adding that the killing of Ms Simpson was "abhorrent".

The starting sentence for murder is a minimum of 15 years in prison.

Following the murder of Ben Kinsella in 2010, the government changed the sentence starting point for murders committed with a knife or other weapon taken to the scene with intent to 25 years.

But because homicides that take place in a home often use a weapon that was already at the scene, domestic homicides generally do not qualify for the higher starting point, according to the MoJ.

Ms Barkworth-Nanton said that was something she wanted to see change, and was worried the aggravating factors of the homicide involving strangling or the end of a relationship would not be sufficient to close the gap.

Ms Simpson's mother Diana Parkes (left) and Hetti Barkworth-Nanton (right) have become campaigners raising awareness of domestic abuse

Ms Simpson, 46, was bludgeoned to death by Robert Brown in Ascot, Berkshire, in October 2010.

He buried her body in a pre-dug grave in Windsor Great Park before confessing to the police the following day.

He was found not guilty of murder after a jury was told the couple's bitter divorce proceedings had placed him under stress.

'Even playing field'

Ms Barkworth-Nanton said Brown's actions were "not some spur of the moment thing" just because he used a weapon that was already in the house, and said the sentencing system needed to be simplified.

"If someone murders their partner or ex-partner... then their starting point should be 25 years," she said.

"We've just got to get an even playing field."