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Ellie Gould, a 17-year-old A-level student from Wiltshire was preparing for her mock exams when she was tragically killed by her boyfriend, Thomas Griffiths, in May 2017. Griffiths fatally strangled and stabbed Ellie in her family home, after Ellie had ended their three-month relationship to focus on her studies. Consequently, Griffiths was charged with Ellie’s murder but only received a sentence of life imprisonment with a tariff of twelve and a half years. Due to his age, the laws on sentencing at that time prevented him from receiving a whole life sentence, which Ellie’s parents successfully campaigned against.
Ellie’s Death
Ellie, an ambitious and hardworking student with intentions of studying psychology at University, had met Griffiths in school and had started dating him in January 2019. As her mock exams of year 12 approached, Ellie decided she wanted to focus on revision and for that reason, ended her relationship with Griffiths. The night before she passed away, she had told friends Griffiths “did not take [the break-up] well.”
On the day of Ellie’s death, Griffiths had been dropped off at school in the morning but emailed teachers to inform them he was unwell and would not be attending. He then returned home and hid from his mother so she would not know of his absence from school, before heading to Ellie’s house where she was spending the day revising. Following an argument with Ellie, Griffiths then attempted to strangle her and fatally stabbed her 13 times with a knife taken from her family kitchen. Several hours later, Ellie’s dad tragically found her body in the kitchen, where Griffiths had staged the scene to look as though Ellie had caused the injuries herself by leaving the knife in her hand. He used his clothes to attempt to clean up the scene and then used Ellie’s fingerprint to unlock her phone to text her friend to inform her she would not be attending school that afternoon. He later dumped the blood-covered clothes in a plastic bag in a local woodland.
Griffiths’ Arrest, Investigation and Sentencing
Griffiths was arrested on suspicion of murder on the 3rd of May, and he was taken to Melksham police station where he was held for questioning. Evidence was gathered from his mobile phone, local CCTV cameras, and from Ellie’s neighbour who had spotted him outside of their house. Additionally, Griffiths had marks on his neck that were consistent with defensive wounds. Despite Griffiths denying the murder and informing the police that he had not heard from Ellie that day, officers were able to match blood found on his trainers with Ellie’s DNA, and he was charged with her murder.
Griffiths originally did not enter a plea at trial, but then pleaded guilty in August 2019 and was remanded in custody whilst awaiting sentencing. The sentencing hearing occurred on the 8th November, where it was stated that Griffiths and Ellie had argued prior to her death, and the post mortem showed that Griffiths had strangled Ellie before stabbing her. Griffiths stated that his mental health was “was not good” at the time of her murder, and he could not remember the events that had occurred. A letter written by him was read to the court, expressing his “heartfelt remorse” for his actions and that he knew his “apologies and explanations” would “never be enough.” Judge Mr Justice Garnham, sentencing Griffiths, described his actions as a “frenzied knife attack” on a “vulnerable young woman in her own home where she should have been safe.” However, it was ruled that the attack was not premeditated as he did not take a weapon to Ellie’s house. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of twelve and a half years; his age prevented him from receiving a whole life tariff.
Ellie’s Law
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After the disappointing sentence Griffiths received, the case was referred to the Attorney General under the unduly lenient sentences scheme but could not progress to the Court of Appeal as the law at the time (in 2019) prevents anyone under the age of 21 from receiving a whole life tariff. Ellie’s mum, Carole Gould, described the sentencing laws as a “crazy system” where under 18’s have the “same starting point” as younger children. She stated that the “laws need to be changed” as there is a great difference between 10-year-olds and 18-year-olds.
Additionally, Ellie’s friends began campaigning to have compulsory self-defence lessons in schools as they believed having basic knowledge of self-defence “would’ve saved [Ellie’s] life.” The campaign was backed by James Gray, the MP for North Wiltshire, and in 2020, the campaign was debated in the House of Commons. A spokesperson for the Department of Education ruled out making self-defence compulsory but agreed to issue guidelines and allow for headteachers to decide whether these lessons were “right” for their schools, dependent on the age and maturity of pupils.
Carole Gould then began campaigning for “Ellie’s Law” which would allow for offenders to be treated more like adults when convicted of murder. Whilst campaigning, Carole Gould explained that Griffiths “was treated like a 10-year-old” despite being “five months off turning 18.”
In August 2020, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland announced that he was reviewing the law on sentencing for teenagers. Buckland took the White Paper to the House of Commons in September 2020 but was criticised as the suggested amendments would not cover Griffith’s crime; it would only apply to cases where a murder weapon was taken to the scene of the murder. On the 9th of March 2021, Buckland introduced the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which allows the law to treat child killers as adults, therefore increasing the minimum sentence they can receive to 27 years. Although this amendment cannot apply retrospectively, it does mean that Griffiths (and killers such as him) have lost the right to review their sentences.
Carole Gould described the amendment to the law as a “huge cloud lifted” from above her head, and that she thinks Ellie would be “very proud” of what they have achieved through campaigning for “Ellie’s Law.”
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