Wade, who published her report in March, recommended that, under the manslaughter guidelines, where death occurs in the course of alleged consensual violence during sex (the so-called ‘rough sex defence’) then the killing should be categorised as category B high culpability.
Wade recommended amending the manslaughter guidelines to indicate that use of a weapon is not necessarily an aggravating factor. She recommended making non-fatal strangulation an aggravating factor in the domestic abuse guideline.
On these three recommendations, the Sentencing Council said last week it was ‘not persuaded that these proposed amendments would be appropriate’ as ‘its current view is that [the manslaughter and domestic offence sentencing] guidelines already take account of the issues raised in the review’.
On non-fatal strangulation specifically, the Council’s current view was that this ‘is a factor best placed in relevant offence-specific guidelines, for example the assault guideline where strangulation is a high culpability factor’.
However, it supported Wade’s other recommendations on manslaughter sentencing. Last week, the Council launched its Miscellaneous amendments to sentencing guidelines consultation, which includes making the ‘use of strangulation, suffocation or asphyxiation’ an aggravating factor in all four of the current guidelines on manslaughter.
The consultation also proposes including a reference to coercive or controlling behaviour in all manslaughter guidelines.
Lord Justice William Davis, chair of the Sentencing Council, said: ‘The killing of a partner is always an extremely serious offence.
‘The domestic abuse guideline sets out in detail why that is so. The Sentencing Council considers there may be greater potential for the manslaughter sentencing guidelines to give specific guidance as to how seriously the courts treat the impact of coercive control and the uniquely personal act of strangulation in domestic homicide.’
