October 2024

Thank you all for coming to tonight’s Vigil where each month we name, remember & pay our respects to the victims of Violence against Women & Girls. This list is updated each month by Karen Ingala Smith

SINCE THE LAST VIGIL THE FOLLOWING 11 DEATHS HAVE BEEN REPORTED:

Zanele Sibanda, 28, was stabbed to death in Tredworth, Gloucester. Tanaka Zivania, 32 has been charged with murder.

Bryonie Gawith, 29, died with her three children, Denisty, 9, Oscar, 5, and Aubree, 22 months. They died at a house fire at their home in Bradford. Mohammed Shabir, 44 and Calum Sunderland, 25, have been charged with their murders and an additonal attempted murder

Barbara Nomakhos, 35, was found dead with multiple injuries at a property in Bury. A man in his 40s, the only suspect in her death, died in a collision with a lorry and a pedestrian in the M65. Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with her death.

Khasha Smith, was last seen alive on a video call. Her body has not been found. A 39-year-old man has been charged in connection with her death.

Davinia Graham, 67, was found fatally injured at an address in Cheltenham. Charles Graham, 77, is charged with her murder.

Brodie MacGregor, 23, was stabbed with broken bottles at a property in Springburn. Alexander Brennan, 52, is charged with her murder.

Cher Maximen, 32, was stabbed with a machete at Notting Hill Carnival in the middle of an altercation between two groups of men. Shakiel Thibou, 20, is charged with her murder.

Montserrat Martorell, 65, suffered multiple injuries in what police describe as a ‘horrific and sustained attack’. Her body was found in a burning flat in Derry. Ciaran Murray, 28. Has been charged with murder, rape and arson.

Christine Everett-Hickson, 21, died after being attacked at a flat in Derbyshire. Kain Tailby, 30, is charged with her murder.

Juliana Prosper, 48, her two children, Kyle Prosper, 16, and Giselle Prosper, 13, were found dead a flat in Luton, Bedfordshire. Nicholas Prosper, 18, her other son, has been charged with the murders.

Rachel Simpson, 43, was found dead inside a garage beside a property in Belfast. Her son, Nathan Simpson, 21, has been charged with murder.

Let’s take a moments silence to reflect on the tragic loss of these lives.

So what I would like to speak about now is the good news that Buffer zones will come into force around abortion clinics in England and Wales from 31 October.

It will make it illegal to hand out anti-abortion leaflets within the buffer zone or obstruct anyone using or working at an abortion clinic.

The protection zones, which will prohibit protest, will extend to a 150-metre radius around abortion services and those convicted of breaking the new law will face an unlimited fine.

One abortion charity said the move could not "come soon enough" but an anti-abortion organisation warned women would lose access to "vital practical support".

Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips said: “The right to access abortion services is a fundamental right for women in this country, and no-one should feel unsafe when they seek to access this. “We will not sit back and tolerate harassment, abuse and intimidation as people exercise their legal right to healthcare."

The law was initially approved by Parliament in May 2023. However the government said it would launch a consultation on guidance before permitting the buffer zones to be implemented.

This led one charity to accuse the then-Conservative government of kicking the issue "into the long grass".

Campaigners also raised concern that the draft guidance would still allow "silent prayer" outside abortion clinics.

Under the law it would be illegal for "anyone to do anything that intentionally or recklessly influences someone’s decision to use abortion services, obstructs them, or causes harassment or distress to someone using or working at these premises," the department said.

It is expected that silent prayer will fall under the scope of the law. Police and prosecutors will get guidance on enforcing the law in the coming weeks.

Heidi Stewart, head of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said the implementation of the zones "can't come soon enough".

"For years our staff and the women we care for have endured anti-abortion fanatics standing outside clinics for hours on end staring at them accessing or going to provide private medical care, stopping them outside and telling them that abortion is murder."

She added that the government should remember the law was "designed to address the harm caused by so-called silent prayer" and that "all forms of harassment" should be prohibited.

Ealing council, in west London, established the country's first buffer zone around a Marie Stopes clinic in 2018 - using a Public Space Protection Order to give local police the power to move, or even fine, anyone who breached it.

The proposal was subjected to a legal challenge but was ultimately allowed to continue.

On another topic I was the Speaker for the Vigil on 4th July & 6th Nov 2023 & 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 31st 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.

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.

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.

John Healey, the defence secretary, has now offered to meet Wanjiru’s family and hopefully some further progress will be made and justice served.

Thanks for your attention, the next Vigil is Monday 4th November, looking forward to seeing you then.