Sister of woman murdered by ex-boyfriend urges government to include strangulation in domestic abuse bill

“After my sister’s murder, it was a great shock to learn about Richard Howarth’s history of violence against other women,” Cathy McIntosh tells The Independent. “The police knew that he was a dangerous man but no-one properly identified the risk that he posed to Anne Marie, in particular that he had attempted to strangle both her and a previous partner. The police didn’t recognise that meant she was more likely to be killed by him”.

Ms McIntosh’s sister Anne-Marie Nield died on 8 May 2016 due to Howarth, her ex-partner who is now serving a life sentence for her murder, inflicting multiple injuries on her.

Her family are now urging the government to include the new offence of of “non-fatal strangulation” in the domestic abuse bill due to believing such an offence could have saved Anne-Marie’s life. The parliamentary committee examining the landmark legislation debated the new offence – which has already gained the backing of 63 cross-party MPs – on Tuesday.

“An offence of strangulation could have protected Anne-Marie and helped officers to understand how dangerous Richard Howarth was,” her sister adds. “I can only hope that lessons can be learned from Anne-Marie’s death and future victims of domestic violence can be given better protection and support by the police.”

Strangulation is known to be a high-risk indicator in domestic abuse cases which result in homicide but the offence is routinely under-prosecuted and is often only charged as common assault – which mean it is equivalent to a slap or a blow which leaves a bruise – or not charged at all.

The amendment to the legislation, which has been proposed by Harriet Harman, a Labour MP, and Mark Garnier, a Conservative MP, to incorporate the new offence in the bill also has the backing of the Centre for Women’s Justice, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Victim’s Commissioner and frontline services helping women fleeing domestic abuse across the country.

Sophie Naftalin, a civil liberties lawyer who represented the family of Ms Nield during the inquest into her death, told The Independent it became clear during the inquest that not one of the officers under cross-examination were aware of the specific risks posed by examples of non-fatal strangulation.

Ms Naftalin, who specialises in representing families of victims who have suffered domestic homicides, said: “Police forces up and down the country do not recognise non-fatal strangulation as being a very strong indicator that the abusive partner will go on and kill the woman. Strangulation is a very gendered form of violence. Women are much more likely to be killed by strangulation than men.

“It makes the victim feel intensely vulnerable. In every single one of my cases, there is almost always a strangulation which predates the murder. In Anne-Marie’s case, he was a serial perpetrator of domestic violence. He was charged with GBH for trying to suffocate his ex with a pillow. That was on the Greater Manchester Police log.

“Then he enters the relationship with Anne-Marie. He put her in a headlock and squeezed her neck. This was disclosed to the police by Anne Marie when reporting another domestic incident but not recorded as a crime in itself. Police did not realise this was a serious risk factor for a future murder. During the inquest, the coroner recognised that this a serious failure on behalf of police and asked GMP to recognise this in their policy.”

The Centre for Women’s Justice, a legal charity that tackles violence against women which is spearheading calls for the offence to be included in the bill, noted strangulation and asphyxiation are the second most common method by which men kill women – 29 per cent or 17 per cent – after stabbing.

Nogah Ofer, solicitor at the Centre for Women’s Justice, said: “Non-fatal strangulation is a well-known risk factor for serious domestic violence and homicide. It is also frequently used as a tool to exert power and control, and to instil fear. It sends the message that ‘if you do not comply, this is how easily I can kill you’.”

Harriet Wistrich, director of Centre for Women’s Justice, added that offenders are getting away with “little or no punishment for this terrifying and dangerous offence”.

“Police and prosecutors are not taking this offending sufficiently seriously,” she added. “A simple amendment to the domestic abuse bill, making non-fatal strangulation a specific serious offence could provide a remedy and help reduce femicide”.

A distressing new study, which is the first of its kind, released earlier in the month found if a woman has been strangled, the chance of her consequently being murdered surges eightfold.

Researchers at Bangor University and doctors at North Wales Brain Injury Service found more than 50 per cent of women subject to routine domestic abuse have suffered strangulation and up to 20 per cent of women who have experienced sexual assault have been strangled.

The study found it is common for strangulation to leave no visible indications of injury but victims can go on to suffer symptoms days or even weeks after the incident took place. Researchers found physical repercussions of strangulation can include cardiac arrest, stroke, miscarriage, incontinence, speech disorders, seizures, paralysis, and other forms of long-term brain injury.

Sandra, a domestic abuse survivor who did not want her real name used to protect her safety, told The Independent her ex-partner strangled her six times but the police did not take this seriously.

She said: “He fell in love straight away. He appeared like the most charming, perfect, polite guy. I moved in with him after two months. Straight away the abuse started. I became pregnant. He started getting physical in the pregnancy and started pushing and restraining me. He strangled me six times on six different occasions. He punched me too. There were seven incidents. My daughter was present in the room, in my arms or in his arms, in almost all the incidents. There was also a sexual assault from him.

“The strangulation was his go to form of abuse. He didn’t try and bruise me or break a bone. He tried to stop me from breathing. Strangulation is the ultimate form of control. He gets to decide whether I live or not. I had finger marks on my neck, but it doesn’t leave marks for very long. He said he’d stop at nothing to bring me down if I left him. He once told me he would set me on fire.

“Because I was European, I had no rights to housing benefit and had nowhere to go. I got in touch with domestic abuse services and lived in three different refuges in the UK for 22 months. I had to move from one refuge to another because the police accidentally leaked my location and new phone number to my ex. I was moved within 24 hours to a new refuge.”

Sandra said the shelter for domestic abuse victims found she was at very high risk of murder after doing a risk assessment. She said she immediately reported him for strangulation when she moved into the refuge but the police only treated it as common assault despite the severity and frequency of the abuse meaning Crown Prosecution Service guidelines stipulate it should have been deemed Actual Bodily Harm (ABH).

She said her ex-partner walked free and was never found guilty in the criminal courts despite the fact he admitted to strangulation to a social worker in text message and in a statement to the family courts.

“It is very alarming the authorities did not take it seriously when I was minutes away from being dead,” Sandra added. “This year I was contacted by his new girlfriend on social media who also did a Clares Law request. I learnt she was a victim of domestic abuse with him too. So he already has a new victim.”

Clares Law – a Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme which is named after Clare Wood who was murdered in 2009 – enables people to apply to the police to find out if their partner has a history of domestic abuse.