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The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
Survivors of coercive control are being criminalised in England, research finds
Survivors of coercive control are being unfairly criminalised in England and punished by a justice system that should be protecting them, research has found. A report from the Centre for Women's Justice (CWJ) drew on the experiences of seven women who were criminalised because of their abusive partners. They include a police officer who was convicted of misconduct in public office and lost her job after her controlling ex-boyfriend, also a police officer, coerced her into giving him her password into the police computer system, and a woman who was prosecuted for theft and fraud after her abusive and controlling partner used her bank account and phone number to sell stolen caravans. Cara* was arrested alongside her abuser after police raided their house searching for drugs, and found a large amount of cannabis, which belonged to her then-partner. She left the relationship after the police raid, but was forced to come face-to-face with him in court. 'It's taken every ounce of strength that I had to actually leave him,' she said. 'And then a few months later, in the new year, I got a charge sheet through the post. 'One of the reasons why they'd had access to the house was because he had assaulted me, and they'd come in and they'd seen that there was all sorts of other criminal activity going on in there,' she added. 'And then I had gone and left and got a restraining order, and that counted for nothing. I was just so completely in shock, my stomach felt like it fell out of my body. 'For the next six months, I was fraught with worry. I was struggling to sleep, I was struggling to work, I was struggling to eat. I was absolute skin and bone, I lost so much weight because all I could think about was the fact that I was going to prison, for something I hadn't done because of the fact that I'd just been involved with this man.' It was only at her third court hearing, at a crown court, where she was forced to sit beside her abuser in the dock, that the case against Cara was dropped. 'It was so frightening, I was absolutely terrified,' she said. 'There was nothing between us, nothing to stop him from getting to me. 'I had to just be really strong and sit there and look directly at the judge and just not move my gaze,' she added. 'And I could hear him at the side of me, making digs, saying, 'You'll have to get back with me, or we'll both go down together.'' Jane*, a former lawyer, was reported to the police by her ex-partner after she started to get notifications through on a banking app from an account he had set up after their relationship ended. She disclosed this to him via a solicitor, and he reported her to the police. She had reported him to the police for coercive control in the past, but still, the criminal prosecution against Jane was taken forward, until it reached the crown court, where it was eventually dropped after the CPS decided it was not in the public interest. 'It absolutely has made me, as an ex-lawyer, totally ashamed of our system, every system, civil, family, criminal, CPS,' Jane said. 'I'm angry, because I just think, 'how can a system that you trust [do this]?' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'I blindly trusted in the police. I trusted them and they failed and they failed and they failed time, time, time again – and utter ridiculous failures.' CWJ has made 11 recommendations for reform, including the introduction of an effective defence for victims of coercive control who are pressured into offending. It has also called for the introduction of a joint police and CPS protocol for gathering, passing on, and taking account of evidence of coercive control where someone suspected of an offence may also be a victim. 'At a time when our criminal justice system is under great strain and many victims are unprotected and do not get justice, it is shocking that limited resources are used to prosecute such victims,' Harriet Wistrich, solicitor and CEO of CWJ, said. 'A more informed and intelligent approach is urgently needed to ensure criminal justice action targets those that actually present a danger.' * Names have been changed
Times
10-07-2025
- Times
Kate Ellis on representing ex-girlfriend of ‘abusive spy'
K ate Ellis, a solicitor at the Centre for Women's Justice, represented a woman known as Beth, who claimed she had been abused by her former boyfriend, an MI5 agent. He was alleged to have been a right-wing extremist who had hoarded Nazi paraphernalia and the High Court ordered an investigation into how MI5 provided false information about the man to three courts. MI5's asserted policy of 'neither confirm nor deny' and the implications of this for anyone trying to litigate against them. Until a couple of months ago, we thought we would have to argue the case to trial while knowing almost nothing about MI5's defence. Specialising in strategic litigation. It feels like we are always pushing the boundaries of what is possible within the law. Harriet Wistrich is one of the main reasons why I joined the Centre for Women's Justice. She's a true 'out-of-the-box' thinker. She never takes no for an answer and she has spent her career fighting tirelessly for survivors of abuse. Never give up — and if one legal avenue fails, try another. Many outcomes are achieved in the end by sheer attrition. As a young lawyer, I went to prison to take instructions from a client on remand. He hadn't been informed of the visit and was halfway through a cooking class. When he finally made it to the visitors' centre he was out of breath — and very worried about seeing me because he had a chicken browning in the oven. The best is calling a client with good news and witnessing the positive impact it can have over time on their recovery after traumatic events. The worst is when my computer crashes part-way through a legal aid application. A statutory defence for victims of serious domestic abuse who have been coerced by their partner into committing a crime — much like the defence available to victims of trafficking. • Read more law stories and insights from our experts Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen. He's 'the Boss' of taking everyday human stories, and turning them into poetry. catherinebaksi@
The Guardian
03-07-2025
- The Guardian
MI5 apologises after spy gave false evidence about neo-Nazi informant
MI5's chief has apologised after a court ruled that a senior spy gave 'false evidence' that was relied on in three court cases about a neo-Nazi informant who had used his status to threaten his girlfriend and tried to kill her with a machete. Although there was no 'deliberate attempt' to mislead, the high court held that MI5's subsequent explanations could not be relied on – and has asked a watchdog to examine if a contempt of court prosecution should be brought. Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, offered a 'full and unreserved apology for the errors made in these proceedings' and said the domestic spy agency would work with the authorities to resolve the embarrassing case. It will now be for the investigatory powers commissioner to determine if there should be a prosecution for misleading the courts because MI5 had explained itself in a 'piecemeal and unsatisfactory way', the high court ruled. At the heart of the story is a neo-Nazi informant, a foreign national known only as X, whose behaviour was the subject of an investigation by the BBC. At one point he attacked his girlfriend, Beth (not her real name), with a machete – an episode she filmed on her mobile phone. Kate Ellis, of the Centre for Women's Justice, who represents Beth, said the court judgment amounted to a 'clear rejection' of the explanations that had been provided by MI5 reports and a 'very serious warning' to the agency to cooperate with any further investigations. She said it was important vindication for Beth 'to see that the courts have not accepted MI5's unsatisfactory explanations at face value and are taking these matters so seriously'. Although one MI5 officer, its communications director, had told the BBC that X was a confidential source in 2020, another senior officer, Witness A, had given evidence that was relied on in three separate cases that declined to confirm the fact, casting a degree of doubt on the BBC reporting. Three years ago, Suella Braverman, then attorney general, had applied to the courts for an injunction to prevent the BBC from identifying X. Witness A gave evidence in that case neither confirming or denying whether X was an informer for MI5 – the standard policy adopted by the British state. Afterwards, Beth's account of events was made public but X's identity was and remained secret. According to previous reports, he has left the UK. On Wednesday, the court described Witness A's statement as 'false evidence' and complained that it had been relied on in the injunction proceedings and in two subsequent cases relating to a human rights complaint brought by Beth against MI5. MI5 is deciding whether to take disciplinary action against some of its own staff after an internal investigation. The spy agency also commissioned an external review by Jonathan Jones KC into the affair, which was seen by the judges in the case. According to their judgment, Jones concluded that 'false evidence was given because of a series of mistakes, some systemic and some personal, but that there was no deliberate attempt by any MI5 staff member to mislead the court'. Richard Hermer, the attorney general, admitted Witness A's evidence was false in January and finally confirmed that X was an agent a few weeks ago, because of 'the exceptional circumstances of this case'. However, the high court had been invited to consider by Beth's legal team 'how did the attorney general and MI5 come to deploy false evidence before the court' and what action should be taken next. The three judges, Sue Carr, the lady chief justice of England and Wales, Dame Victoria Sharp, president of the king's bench division, and Mr Justice Chamberlain, said there should be a review of the government's use of its neither confirm nor deny policy (NCND) regarding the identity of informers or agents. 'The use of NCND in these proceedings, and its maintenance until the very last minute, raises wider concerns,' the judges said, and they invited parties to the case 'to file submissions' as to the appropriateness of the policy.
