Calls for review of ‘lenient’ sentence of man who left partner to die
A man who avoided jail over the gross negligence manslaughter of his partner, who died after a scalding bath, should have his “unduly lenient” sentence reviewed, campaigners have said.
Mark Clowes was given a two-year suspended sentence last week after a jury unanimously found him responsible for the death of Clare Bell, who he refused to help as she lay pleading for him to do so.
Clowes left Bell in a scalding-hot bath until she had sustained thirddegree burns over 30% of her body, then left her on a bed for about six hours without medical help. By the time paramedics arrived, Bell was dead. She might have been saved with prompt medical care, Mr Justice Calver told Stafford crown court.
A group of campaigners said on Thursday: “The sympathy afforded to Mark Clowes throughout the sentencing remarks sits in such marked contrast to the evidence of his conduct that day. Equally, there was little sympathy shown for Clare who suffered serious injuries, begged for help and died after many hours – entirely conscious of her deteriorating state.”
The Femicide Census group, supported by the Labour MPs Rosie Duffield
and Jess Phillips, as well as Bell’s constituency MP, the Conservative Jonathan Gullis, demanded the sentence be reviewed, saying it qualifies as unduly lenient.
Delivering it last week, the judge said Bell was in a vulnerable state on the day she died, and had pleaded with Clowes to help her out of the bath. He initially resisted and, when he finally did so, he placed her on the bed and left her.
The court heard that Bell called repeatedly for Clowes’ help, telling him she was “going to die” and that she was “on the way out”. But, while he said he had checked on her from time to time, he did not call the emergency services until after 5pm.
The court heard that Bell and
Clowes were alcoholics and were drunk at various points on the day she died. While Clowes was said to be a “functioning alcoholic”, the court heard Bell’s condition had resulted in her developing serious health problems by the time of her death.
Bell would sometimes be reliant on Clowes for her basic needs, the court was told. He helped her into a bath he had run for her on 9 August 2020. In his sentencing remarks, the judge said the court had heard evidence the water was at least 50C – potentially as hot as 82C – and that Clowes left her in it for at least 10 minutes.
When she pleaded for him to help her out, a witness told the court they heard Clowes say: “No, I don’t want you going anywhere, look at the fucking state of you.”
Nevertheless, the judge said he accepted Clowes’ behaviour that day was a “lapse in an otherwise loving, caring relationship that you had with Clare”. He said Clowes was struggling with the loss of his partner and engaging with help to deal with his own alcoholism.
The campaigners said: “Mark Clowes was described as ‘a kind and attentive partner’, ‘utterly devoted’, ‘who showed nothing but kindness’ and who imparted ‘constant loving attention’ by Mr Justice Calver; and he references giving Clowes the ‘benefit of the doubt’ four times in sentencing remarks.
“But that description bears no relation to the evidence before the judge on their relationship the day Clare died. The couple were heard to quarrel by two separate neighbours, Clowes made disparaging and controlling remarks and completely ignored her welfare for more than five hours before she died.”