Bereaved families are demanding action on Jade’s Law saying Government delays mean children orphaned by domestic homicide remain exposed and without vital legal protection
The children left behind after domestic homicide grow up holding trauma many cannot imagine. They’re the ones living with the lifelong aftermath – the nightmares, sudden anxiety and the knowledge that one parent killed the other yet the systems meant to protect them still leave them exposed.
Under current laws, parents who kill a partner or ex-partner with whom they share children still retain parental responsibility after sentencing. Families must consult the perpetrator on key decisions affecting their children, including health, education and travel.
For families like those of Jade Ward, the trauma didn’t end with the murder. It continued every time they were reminded that the killer still had legal rights over the children left without a mother.
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Now, the Joanna Simpson Foundation is urging the Government to finally implement Jade’s Law – a reform designed to automatically suspend the parental responsibility of any parent convicted of murdering their partner. The law stems from the murder of Jade Ward, a young mother tragically killed by Russell Marsh. Her family endured a long and exhausting fight before his parental rights were eventually removed, despite him being jailed for at least 25 years.
But despite repeated promises over several years, Jade’s Law has still not come into force. Right now, families continue to face court battles to secure protections for children who have already lost so much.
Pride of Britain award winner Diana Parkes CBE co-founded the Joanna Simpson Foundation after her daughter, Joanna, was murdered by her estranged husband on Halloween in 2010. Despite him bludgeoning her with a hammer while their children were nearby, he was acquitted of murder and convicted of manslaughter, to serve only half of his sentence. Years later, Diana had to campaign to block his early release.
“As the mother of Joanna Simpson, I have known the trauma and pain of losing my daughter through extreme violence, domestic homicide. She was killed by her estranged husband,” Diana said. “My grandchildren were witnesses to this horrendous crime. I became the carer of my grandchildren overnight, supporting them through their grief as well as my own.”
“At the time in 2010, there was very little support for people like us. In fact, that is why Hetti and I co-founded the Joanna Simpson Foundation in 2014 in Jo’s memory to help, support and care for children affected by domestic abuse and domestic homicide.”
Despite Joanna writing years before her death, including in her will that she wanted her mother to care for her children if anything happened to her, Diana still had to navigate a complex and painful legal process to gain parental rights.
Roann Court was just 15 when her mother, Claire Marshall, was brutally murdered in front of her – a moment that shattered her childhood and left the family without support in the aftermath. She says the trauma of witnessing the murder stayed with her for years, yet the systems meant to help them simply weren’t there.
“I was 15 years old when I watched my mum being brutally killed. What followed was almost as shocking, there was virtually no support for me or my family,” she said. “We were left completely alone to deal with a level of trauma no child should ever have to endure.”
“The consequences have stayed with us for life. Children like me are not secondary witnesses – we are direct victims, whose lives are shattered in an instant.”
“This is why I stand with the Joanna Simpson Foundation in demanding that the Government recognises children and carers bereaved by domestic homicide within the upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls strategy.”
“These children cannot wait. Their safety, mental health and futures depend on action – not promises. Implementing Jade’s Law without delay is essential. No child should be forced to endure further control from the perpetrator who destroyed their family. No carer should have to fight through grief and the courts to protect traumatised children.”
Another family confronting those same gaps is the mother of Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche, Linda Westcarr who was murdered by her partner last year April. Her loved ones were left to navigate sudden grief and a legal system at the same time as they sought full parental responsibility for her child.
“In the aftermath of my Kennedi being killed, I stepped into the role of carer for her child, my grandchild. Every day, I witness the profound impact that domestic homicide has on a child who has lost their mother in the most traumatic way imaginable,” she said.
“Children bereaved by domestic homicide and the carers who take on the enormous task of raising them deserve to be recognised, heard and properly supported. We are the loved ones behind the headlines and the voices for change.”
“I stand alongside the Joanna Simpson Foundation and other adult children and carers bereaved by domestic homicide in calling on the UK Government to include children and carers in its upcoming strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. Doing so would send a powerful message: that their lives matter, that their healing matters and that their futures matter.”
Together, these stories show that their experiences are not isolated tragedies – they reflect a widespread national gap in support for children bereaved by domestic homicide.
Jess Asato MP said: “Domestic homicides may sometimes make the news, but the trauma for children hidden behind the headlines is too often overlooked.”
“Creating a national system of support for children and their carers in the aftermath of domestic homicide must be a priority for the Government as we await the publication of the VAWG strategy.”
Fellow Pride of Britain award winner Hetti Barkworth-Nanton CBE, co-founder of the Joanna Simpson Foundation, added: “Children and their carers bereaved by domestic homicide have been overlooked for far too long. Their lives are shattered by unimaginable trauma, yet the support they receive is inconsistent and inadequate. The Government’s upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls strategy must recognise these children and carers and commit to giving them the protection and care they deserve.”
“Implementing Jade’s Law without delay is a vital step to safeguard children from further harm and ensure perpetrators cannot continue to exert control from prison.”
