Battered wives who allow child abuse could avoid jail

VICTIMS of domestic violence who allow their partners to hurt their children could avoid jail under new proposals.

Guidelines set out by the Sentencing Council say courts should consider them less at fault than other parents.

The judge- dominated body, which sets down sentencing guidelines that courts must follow, said the threat of domestic abuse is ‘ a key consideration that may cause an offender to fail to intervene’ when their child is at risk of harm.

The recommendation is in a consultation paper on sentences in child cruelty cases and cases in which parents are charged with ‘allowing a child to die or suffer serious physical harm’.

The law on allowing a child to die was introduced in 2004 to cover cases in which there are two or more adults living in a house in which a child is killed or seriously hurt, but no one can prove which of them carried out the attack. It was notably used in the Baby P case in 2008, when 27-year- old Tracey Connelly pleaded guilty to allowing the death of her 17-month-old son Peter, and two men were convicted of the same offence at the Old Bailey. Under yesterday’s proposals the most serious offenders would typically be sentenced to nine years in prison. They say the level of criminal behaviour of a parent will be considered lower if they are themselves a victim of abuse that is ‘linked to the commission of the offence’.

Only parents found to have the least level of guilt in cases in which the child suffered the lowest level of ‘serious physical harm’ can hope to escape prison. The guidelines say that they should receive a ‘ high-level’ community punishment instead.

The council said records of court cases showed that domestic abuse was ‘often relevant’.

It added: ‘This seems to be particularly applicable in cases where there are co-defendants and one is charged with failing to protect a child from abuse that their partner is inflicting on their child. The council felt this was a key consideration that may cause an offender to fail to intervene in such instances.’

The council said abuse taken into account by judges should not be limited to physical violence, but should include ‘all types of domestic abuse, including coercive and controlling behaviour’.

The rule offering lesser sentences to domestic abuse victims is also recommended for other child cruelty offences, which include assault, ill-treatment, neglect and abandonment.

Critics said the recommendation would encourage parents to try to avoid jail by inventing or exaggerating abuse they have suffered.

Criminologist Dr David Green of the Civitas think tank, a former adviser to the Home Office, said: ‘The way this recommendation stands it looks as if you can throw in domestic abuse as an excuse after the fact.’

A decision on the proposals will be made in September.