Tougher sentences for 'jealous' killers

Last updated at 11:46 28 November 2005


Men who kill their unfaithful wives out of sexual jealousy will face tougher sentences under new guidelines sent to judges today.

The rules drawn up by a panel chaired by the most senior judge in England and Wales say that discovery of infidelity should not be accepted as a high degree of provocation.

The sentencing guidelines in cases of manslaughter on the grounds of provocation come in the wake of concern that domestic killings have been treated more leniently than others.

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, said: "I think the framework looks rather tougher than one would conclude by looking at the range being imposed at the moment.

"We are anxious that there should be (at the moment) an automatic assumption that one can say 'Well, I was told about this infidelity' and expect that to count as a severe provocation."

The starting point for cases in which there was

only a low degree of provocation should be 12 years' imprisonment, said the guidelines.

People who kill their partners and claim infidelity as an excuse can currently get as little as five years'.

Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken Macdonald QC, who also sits on the Sentencing Guidelines Council which drew up today's measures, said: "We have felt that in the past some sentences for manslaughter have been a little low where men and women have claimed sexual jealousy for provocation.

"It relates not only to men but to women. These guidelines seeks to deal with that."

The defence of provocation also affects women, and men, who have been abused by their partner, leading to them killing the abuser.

If they have suffered a high degree of provocation over a long period of time their sentence starting point will be three years' imprisonment.

Mr Macdonald said that defendants in such cases could even escape jail in exceptional cases, as at present.

He added: "What we are asking judges to focus on is the extent and the nature of the provocation.

"Infidelity alone does not necessarily put you in a high band, and the fact that it has built up over a long period of time does not necessarily put you in a low band."

Most watched News videos