November 2023

 

So the reason for attending this Vigil every month is to name, remember & pay respects to the victims of Violence Against Women & Girls. This information usually comes from Karen Ingala Smith who publishes the list of names but the list hasn’t been updated for October as yet. It is my sincere wish that there are no names to announce, but sadly the list is usually around the 10 – 12 mark.

The Women who have been killed this month by men or where a man is the principal suspect I have got from Twitter, there are 4  victims as follows;

9^th Oct 2023 – Deborah Boulter, 53, was found dead at a home in Nottingham. A murder investigation has been launched into her death. Officers also found the body of a man David Boulter aged 60mat the same address. Police are not looking for anyone else.

23^rd Oct 2023 – An unnamed woman of 60 was seriously injured at a house in Leeds & later passed away that evening. A boy of 17 has been charged with murder.

25^th Oct 2023 – Denise Steeves, 59 was found with a ‘significant injury’ @ Diamond Meadow Lodge Park in Brean, Somerset. Her husband Simon Steeves, 70, has been charged with murder.

29^th Oct 2023 – Mehak Sharma, 19 was stabbed to death @ home in Croyden. Sahil Sharma, 23, has been charged with murder.

So each month we read out the names of those women who have been killed. Roughly 58% of the women killed by men are killed by current or former partners, with another 14% killed by other family members. Shockingly just over 8% of UK women are killed by their own sons. This means that almost 30% of the killings of women by men in the UK are not subject to such review, women killed by a neighbour, work colleague, flatmate or stranger.

Men’s fatal violence against women cuts across all sections of society, ages, class & ethnicity. Some women are afforded more empathy than others. Some are more likely to be disbelieved, to be blamed, to be sent away without the help they need. It is almost always the young, conventionally attractive, middle class white woman killed by a stranger, the perfect victim that makes the front pages, not the 50 year old from a council estate in Leicestershire, killed by the Father of her children after a 30 year marriage, where her life & dignity have been chipped away, little by little, every day.

Black women are disproportionately victimized, yet more likely to receive a sub-standard response from the police or Social Services.

So what about their murderers – what justice do the victims & their families receive? What sentences are meted out to those who have been found guilty?

 

2^nd May 2023 Maya Devi, 77, was beaten to death with a rounders bat by her husband at their home in Hornchurch Essex Tarsame Singh, 79 pleaded guilty to her murder & has been sentenced to 15 years.

22^nd February 2023, Sarah Brierley, 49, was found dead in a property in Sheffield. She had suffered head injuries. David Scott, 39, has been found guilty of her murder & sentenced to 29 years minimum.

9^th Feb 2023, Valentina Cozma, 40 was doused in petrol & set alight. Her ex husband Georgian Constanin, 42 must serve at least 28 years for her murder.

31^st October 2023, Dr Antonella Castelvedere, 52, was stabbed 15 times at her Essex home by her husband Ertan Ersoy, 51 who sought to control her life. The day before her death she left a note in her phone which said she feared for her life. Ersoy must serve a min of 25 years.

Jan 2022, Mariam Kamara, 47 was stabbed by her husband 8 times @ their home in Brixton before setting her body on fire. Her Husband Amidu Komora, 48, has been sentenced to a minimum of 29 years for her murder. Mariam had previously told friends she feared he would kill her.

30^th May 2023, Emily Sanderson, 42 was bludgeoned to death with a dumbbell & was found naked, bound & wrapped in packing paper. Sex-buyer Mark Nicholls, 43 must serve a minimum of 17.5 years for her murder.

So from this randomly selected number of victims the average sentence is 24 years. Depending on the facts of the offence the starting point for the minimum time served in prison for an adult ranges from 15-30 years, it is unusual but some offenders receive a whole life tariff, which means they will spend the rest of their life in prison. At the moment there are 63 prisoners serving whole life sentences in prison.

 

On another topic I was the Speaker for the Vigil on 4^th July this year & my subject was the unacceptable length of time some cases took to get to Court. In particular I focused on the plight of a Kenyan sex worker named Agnes Wanjiru, a 21 year old Mother of a 5 month old baby when she disappeared in March 31^st 2012 & her body was discovered in a Septic tank two months later. She had sustained stab wounds to her chest & abdomen. Witnesses said she was last seen leaving a local bar with a British Soldier. The pathologist said that her injuries may not have been enough to kill her, she could still have been alive when she was stuffed into the Septic tank.

The Authorities know which British Soldiers were involved with this murder. Until the last couple of weeks this case had been ‘left to rot’ in Kenya’s attorney -generals office as the military did nothing to investigate in the UK. The soldiers concerned had arrived back in the UK six days after Agnes’s killing on March 31^st 2012, and 2 months before her body was discovered.

The murder investigation was held up by the Kenya’s death penalty: Britain would not agree to the extradition of a suspect who could face capital punishment.

I am happy to update that the investigation is now going ahead after a mutual legal assistance agreement has been signed, with an assurance that any British soldier extradited for the murder would not be executed. Kenyan detectives have been in Britain recently working with Military investigators from the Defence Serious Crime Unit set up as a global police force within the MOD taking up witness statements. I hope there are some women in this unit!

So I am hopeful that Agnes’s family will receive some justice and closure after all this time and that the investigation does not go on for another 10 years.

Both the topics I have presented to you this evening are to do with Justice – is a 24 year sentence enough retribution for the taking of a life away from their family? Those families are living with their losses every day for the rest of their lives.

Everyone deals with their grief in different ways. I am sure Agnes’s family would take some solace in making those responsible for her death accountable and that Justice delayed is not justice denied.

Finally, the not so recent news is that an unidentified Conservative MP has been accused of rape by several women – former Conservative party Chairman Sir Jake Berry wrote to the police last year to make them aware of the claims after leaving the post last year. One alleged victim is receiving treatment at a private hospital paid for by the Conservative Party. The matter has been ongoing for over two years, possibly 5 victims of this unknown MP. The failure of others to act has enabled him to continue to offend & victimize women.

So are any of us surprised at this latest development?

Please join us for the next Vigil 0n Monday 4^th December.