SARA THORNTON, Kiranjit Ahluwalia and Amelia Rossiter are all currently in prison serving sentences for murdering their husbands. All three women suffered immense cruelty and violence at the hands of their husbands and were driven to retaliate by the extreme circumstances under which they had been living.
On 29 July the High Court dismissed Sara Thornton's appeal against her conviction. Her appeal was based on a reinterpretation of the law of homicide and provocation. Previously, in order to be acLinted or aroused must ace tion, accused must have acted in 'a sudden and temporary loss of self control' caused by the words and action of the victim. For Sara and others like her, this ignores the reality of their situation.
In these cases, the law not only directly discriminates against women but also discriminates by tailing to take into account the different circumstances under which women kill. For Sara, provocation was not accepted as a defence because she had gone into the kitchen, sharpened a knife and waited for her husband to go to sieep before she stabbed him. This was held to mean that she had cooled off and therefore could not be deemed to have lost her self control.
Sara Thornton, Kiranjit Ahluwalia and Amelia Rossiter have now suffered not only years of abuse •ane vence silently condoned by the state, but are also condemned for back. Domestic violence is the real crime. What is needed is not to put women in jail, but to provide sufficient resources that they no longer have to resort to this sort of desperate act.
Amelia Rossiter has been granted leave to appeal, Kiranjit Ahluwalia is still awaiting news of her appeal. All three women need support and solidarity Baker to maintain their struggle against the injustice that has been done to them.
There will be demonstrations outside the Home Office every other Wednesday from I1 September from 12 noon until 2pm, calling for the immediate release of Sara Thornton. Amelia Rossiter and Kiranjit Ahluwalia. The campaign also calling on people to lobby their MPs to support the cases
Home News Guy's, Lewisham, tan