Many promises were made after the abduction and murder of Sarah Everard, which ignited a debate over women’s safety on Britain’s streets.
The 33-year-old marketing executive died at the hands of Wayne Couzens – a serving Metropolitan Police officer at the time – who will be sentenced at the Old Bailey today.
Her death sparked a national discussion on the issue of male violence – putting pressure on Downing Street, councils and police forces to take action.
A £45million fund for safer streets, including better lighting and CCTV, was pledged by the Government in the immediate aftermath of her death.
Ministers also announced controversial plans for plainclothes police officers to patrol areas with bars and nightclubs for predatory men.
But many were distrustful of the idea, given there have been numerous cases of officers carrying out sexual offences themselves – including Sarah’s killer.
In addition to boosted security measures, the murder of Sarah, from Brixton, south London, sparked a national conversation about ensuring boys are properly taught from a young age how to respect women.
But the murder of 28-year-old primary school teacher Sabina Nessa earlier this month suggests there is still a long way to go.
Since Sarah was abducted on March 3 as she walked home from the Clapham area, a further 80 women have been killed where a man is the principal suspect.
This is according to Counting Dead Women – a group that tracks femicide in the UK.
Co-founder Karen Ingala-Smith said: ‘There are 37 women who are going to be killed violently before the end of the year. Many of them know now that their life is at risk, many of them are in fear of being killed.’
Just one day after Sarah’s disappearance, Geetika Goyal, 29, was found with knife wounds in the street in Leicester and died at the scene.
Meanwhile in Oldham, Greater Manchester, Imogen Bohajczuk, also 29, was found stabbed to death in her own home.
She died at the hands of her partner Daniel Grant Smith, 41, following a relationship characterised by violence and alcohol abuse.
Smith wrote ‘it was me’ in red nail varnish on her right leg and told police he killed Imogen because he ‘thought it was right’.
Jailing him to life with a minimum of 17-and-a-half-years in July, Judge Patrick Field said the ‘macabre graffiti’ on Imogen’s leg and Smith’s frank admission to officers was ‘an act of callous and cruel triumphalism’.
Jamaican churchgoer Phyllis Nelson, 76, was found dead at her home in Plaistow, east London, on March 26 and her grandson, Donovan Miller, 30, was arrested at the scene and charged with murder.
One local, Emma Martin, said: ‘She was very kind and the matriarch of the block in the best possible way. She was always saying hi and always tending to her roses and her holly bushes or cooking Jamaican spicy chicken and fish dishes.
‘She was a strong-willed, independent and fearless woman. She’d lived here for decades. She cared about this area and she cared about the community.’
Community support officer Julia James, 53, died from serious head injuries while walking her dog in Snowdown, between Canterbury and Dover. She was found dead on April 27 and 10 days later, Callum Wheeler, 21, was charged with her murder.
In an emotional speech at her funeral at Canterbury Cathedral, her son Patrick Davis said: ‘Mum was the most amazing woman, who would go to the end of the earth to help anyone.
‘She had the most infectious laugh and a huge heart and I am so pleased I had the pleasure of calling you my mother.
‘Mum would light up a room with her smile as soon as she walked in. As she entered she would glow with positivity, love and warmth.
In early May law graduate Mayra Zulfiqar, 26, from Feltham, southwest London, was shot and strangled at a rented home in Lahore, Pakistan.
Having moved to the city two months before, she said two love rivals had been forcing her to marry them and that she refused their advances.
In May the nation was shocked to read that 20-year-old British national Caroline Crouch had been strangled to death by ‘burglars’ in front of her baby while her husband was tied up at their home in Athens.
But the truth later came out, as Babis Anagnostopoulos, 33, confessed to staging the home invasion and killing his wife after she threatened to leave him.
He managed to keep up the facade for more than a month, comforting Caroline’s grieving parents at her funeral service.
Gracie Spinks, a 23-year-old model, had her throat slashed by her alleged stalker while she was tending to her horse, Paddy, at Blue Lodge Farm, in Duckmanton, Derbyshire, on June 18.
Detectives believe she was killed by Michael Sellers, 35, who was found dead in a nearby field that same morning.
A ‘murder bag’ containing knives, an axe, Viagra and a note that read ‘Don’t lie!’, was found in a lane near the scene of the killing.
The victim’s mother Alison Heaton posted on Facebook: ‘My beautiful daughter Gracie, taken away from me, her dad and brother and sister, and everyone who loved and cared for her.’
On July 24, ‘partial human remains’ of Patricia Holland, 83, were found at her home in at her house in Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk.
Neighbours say the widowed mum-of-four had taken in homeless Alan Scott, 41, as a lodger because she felt sorry for him. He was later charged with her murder.
The body of 23-year-old Megan Newborough was found on August 8 in a country lane, near Woodhouse Eaves, Leicestershire and Ross McCullam, 29, was charged with rape and murder.
Paying tribute, Megan’s parents said: ‘There are no words to describe how much we as a family are completely heartbroken and devastated.
‘Megan was the most generous, loving and caring person and we have been robbed of our treasured daughter.’
Plymouth gunman Jake Davison, 22, went on a 12 minute rampage in his hometown, shooting his mother Maxine, 51, along with Sophie Martyn, her 43-year-old dad Lee Martyn.
He then went on to kill Stephen Washington, 59, and Kate Shepherd, 66, before turning his gun on himself.
It was the first mass shooting in the UK for more than a decade, and the massacre sparked debate about the dangers of ‘incel’ culture and misogyny in the online world.
Dancer Maddie Durdant-Hollamby, 22, was found dead next to her partner Ben Green, 41, at their home in Kettering, Northamptonshire on August 27.
Police believe Green killed his girlfriend and took his own life. A former friend of the marketing director described him as a ‘prolific monster’ and a ‘woman-hating sex addict’.
They told the Sun: ‘I have never known anything like it. He would be having sex with eight women at the same time while married with kids.
‘Ben liked women much younger than him. He had zero respect for his conquests and would be so rude to them.
‘It was chilling the way he always said he would get what he wanted. He treated women as his property.’
On September 2, Fawziyah Javed, 31, plunged to her death from Edinburgh’s Arthur’s Seat. Her husband Kashif Anwar, 27, was later charged with her murder.
The victim was thought to have been in the early stages of pregnancy and had celebrated her wedding reception with friends and family just days before the fall.
In a tribute posted on Facebook, her uncle Zareef Zaf Latif said: ‘Fawziyah, our precious niece, taken away from us way too soon. Have so many memories of you as a little girl.
‘Will miss you so much. May Allah grant you a special place in Jannat. I hope the angels take care of you until we meet again.’
Sabina Nessa, 28, from Greenwich, southeast London was on her way to The Depot bar, Kidbrooke, when she was attacked on Friday September 17.
The journey should have taken just five minutes, but she never made it. Her body wasn’t discovered until 5.30pm the following afternoon when a dog walker found her buried under a pile of leaves nearby.
Her death reignited the same sort of debate that Sarah Everard’s death had, as hundreds of people flocked to Kidbrooke’s Pegler Square for a candlelit vigil.
Breaking down in tears during an emotional speech to the crowd, her sister Jebina Yasmin Islam said: ‘We have lost an amazing, caring, beautiful sister, who left this world far too early.
‘Words cannot describe how we are feeling, this feels like we are stuck in a bad dream and can’t get out of it. Our world is shattered, we are simply lost for words.’
Former Dominoes delivery driver Koci Selamaj, 36, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, was charged with Sabina’s murder last night, and he intends to plead not guilty, a court was told.
This catalogue of tragedies suggests not much has changed since Sarah Everard’s death, despite the promises.
Operation Vigilant – the scheme which sees plainclothes officers placed in bars and clubs, was trialled by Thames Valley Police between November 2018 and May 2019.
It was adopted by Dorset and Wiltshire Police forces about a month ago, but no other services so far.
When asked about concerns of officers themselves being convicted of serious offences, a Thames Valley Police spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘The operation is very heavily scrutinised, captured on CCTV and body worn video and deployments are overseen by supervisors.
‘All stops conducted are reviewed in detail and we have had observers from other agencies, the community and forces to seek feedback and develop the initiative further. We have worked with survivors, charities and support services to develop Vigilant and this is not a concern that has arisen before.
‘It is also worth noting that there was a misconception that undercover officers would be going to nightclubs/bars however that is not the case. Undercover officers do not enter premises, they remain outside and in the local area.’
Co-founder of campaign group Reclaim These Streets, Anna Birley told ITV: ‘It’s easier to tell a woman to stay home for her own good than it is to really tackle the cultural problems – the misogyny that pervades our public institutions, the issues in our laws – that’s a lot more work.
‘A minimal amount of funding has been promised for things like street lighting, but a) it’s yet to be delivered and b) if the answer was as simple as lights, then we’d have solved the problem of violence against women decades ago.
In the aftermath of Sabina’s death, campaign group Our Streets Now said: ‘It’s why we don’t walk where we want, when we want.
‘It’s why we tense at the sound of a car pulling up, or of a man crossing the street towards us.
‘It’s why one in five girls have avoided their place of education. Please, stop telling us we’re overreacting.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
from News – Metro https://ift.tt/3ASaeZA
0 Comments