The Government plans to toughen sentencing law for domestic killers. The plans cover people who murder a partner or ex-partner at home with a knife or other weapon. The change could add 10 years to the minimum time they serve in prison. Ministers have framed it as part of their effort to tackle violence against women.
Anyone convicted of murder receives a mandatory life sentence. The judge then sets the minimum term the person must serve.
Under the current rules, a killer who takes a weapon to the scene intending to kill faces a 25-year starting point for that minimum term. For murders with a gun, the figure rises to 30 years.
Most murders in the home do not fit that pattern. The weapon, such as a kitchen knife, is usually already there. In those cases a lower starting point of 15 years applies. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) wants to remove that 10-year difference so that domestic killers receive longer sentences.
Domestic killings account for more than a fifth of all murders, and women make up the overwhelming majority of victims.
Justice Secretary David Lammy said the law had failed for centuries to protect women from violent partners. He cited marital rape and abuse in the home. Despite significant progress, these wrongs still needed righting, he said. “This change closes a long-overdue gap and will ensure those who murder their partner face sentences that better reflect the devastating harm they cause,” he said.
The change is subject to consultation with the Sentencing Council. The MoJ said it would come into force as soon as possible.
The charity Killed Women has campaigned for years for a higher minimum sentence for domestic murder. It welcomed the plan, saying women’s lives were at last receiving the same value as men’s. “David Lammy has finally done the right thing,” it said.
The Labour Government aims to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. In December, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described the problem as a national emergency.
Separately, the Law Commission is reviewing the sentencing framework for murder, following a government commission in December 2024. It expects to publish a consultation paper on sentencing in summer 2027.
Mark Day, deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust, criticised the timing. He noted that the Law Commission’s work was the reason homicide fell outside the Independent Sentencing Review’s terms of reference. He said it was troubling that ministers had now chosen to pre-empt the Commission’s findings.
Mr Day added that prisons were still struggling with rising numbers despite the Sentencing Act. Longer sentences for some of the most serious offences have largely driven that growth, he said. “The outcome of this proposal will be to add to that pressure.”
This change closes a long-overdue gap and will ensure those who murder their partner face sentences that better reflect the devastating harm they cause.
David Lammy, Justice Secretary
