Britain to ban ‘rough sex’ defence
The family of murdered British backpacker Grace Millane has welcomed the news the UK is set to abolish the ‘‘rough sex gone wrong’’ defence in court.
UK justice minister Alex Chalk said it was ‘‘unconscionable’’ that consensual rough sex could be used to justify the death of a woman, the BBC reports.
The defence drew criticism during the trial of the British backpacker’s killer in Auckland last year.
Grace, 21, died sometime between December 1 and 2, 2018, after she went on a Tinder date with the man in Auckland’s CBD.
Her killer, a 28-year-old who cannot be named, denied murder and claimed her death was a tragic accident after the pair had rough sex at his apartment.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve a minimum of 17 years behind bars by Justice Simon Moore at the High Court at Auckland.
The UK’s new Domestic Abuse Bill, due to become law in England and Wales later this year, would make it ‘‘crystal clear’’ the defence was unacceptable, Chalk said.
Love Grace X, an initiative set up by Millane’s family in her memory to collect handbags, toiletries and luxuries for domestic abuse victims, posted on Facebook that news of the new legislation was ‘‘fantastic news to wake up to’’.
Millane’s cousin and Love Grace X spokeswoman Hannah O’Callaghan said the family were pleased the Government was putting a stop to the defence.
‘‘It needs to be called what it really is, and that’s murder and you cannot consent to that.’’
She was pleased families would not have to listen to the accused’s side of the story, while the victim is re-victimised and unable to tell their side.
Under the current legislation, a person who kills another during sexual activity could be charged with manslaughter alone, with evidence of an intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm needed for a murder charge.
Campaign group We Can’t Consent To This said the ‘‘rough sex’’ defence could result in a lesser sentence, and described the new legislation as ‘‘a big step forward’’.
It hoped to make an expectation that those who kill a person during sex will be charged with murder.
Detective Inspector Scott Beard, who led the investigation into Millane’s death, said rough sex should not be a defence to murder, following her killer’s sentencing. Strangling someone for five to 10 minutes until they die ‘‘is not rough sex’’, he said. ‘‘They’re allowed to use that defence, and as I’ve said, the defence counsel, that’s their job, but the jury didn’t buy it and they came back quick time with a guilty verdict.’’
‘‘The Millanes sat through a trial for a number of weeks and their daughter’s background, rightly or wrongly, was out in the public. What, for me, hurts is that it’s repeatedly re-victimising the family,’’ Beard said.
However, Beard said it wasn’t up to him to determine whether the defence should be outlawed in New Zealand.