The facts of the case:
Grace Millane was a British tourist who was travelling in Auckland, New Zealand, in December 2018. Originally from Essex, she had recently graduated from the University of Lincoln with a degree in advertising and marketing. She was on a two week stay in New Zealand after spending six weeks in South America.
She sadly passed away on her 22nd birthday, the 2nd December 2018, after being strangled by a man who she had met on a dating app, named Jesse Kempson. Her friends and family became worried when she did not reply to birthday messages, and the police started to investigate once she was reported missing. The last message they got from her was during the date with Kempson, stating “I click with him so well.”
The investigation:
On the 8th of December 2018, the police reported that they were treating the case as a homicide, and Jesse Kempson was subsequently arrested and charged with her murder. Their entire date was captured on CCTV, which helped the police to piece together a timeline of the evening of her disappearance. The footage showed them in the lift of the CityLife Hotel, heading towards the apartment where Kempson was staying. That was the last time Grace was seen alive.
The morning after, Kempson was caught on CCTV in a store, buying a suitcase which he would later use to move Grace’s body. He was also seen purchasing cleaning products and he hired a car. He later drove to Waitakere Ranges, which he had searched online the night of the murder and disposed of her body there. Grace’s body was found on the 9th of December 2018.
The arrest and trial:
Kempson was arrested on the 8th of December 2018 and was remanded in custody. He then appeared in the Auckland High Court on the 16th of January 2019, where he pleaded not guilty, and his identity was remained suppressed pending an appeal.
The trial began on the 4th of November 2019. Kempson reaffirmed his not guilty plea, and the prosecution argued that Kempson had strangled Grace to death following their date. They also stated that after her death, Kempson had made several internet searches on how to dispose of bodies. The crown prosecutor in the case, Brian Dickey, that the case is about “being strangled to death” and that “you cannot consent to your own murder.”
Dickey also stated in the case that the New Zealand forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy on Grace testified that it would’ve taken five to ten minutes for her to die by strangulation, and this would need to be done with “sustained effort and strength.” They argued that Kempson showed “reckless intent” and Kempson’s behaviour following her death proved he was unmoved by what had happened. They also argued he got sexual gratification from her death, as he photographed her body, rather than ringing emergency services. Furthermore, he told elaborate lies to police – initially telling them that he last saw her at 8 pm, before changing his story to say he had sex with her in his hotel.
Kempson’s defence team argued that Grace’s death was the result of a consensual sex ‘misadventure’ between the two – known as the ‘rough sex’ defence. They alleged that Grace had an interest in bondage and sadomasochism and that she had asked Kempson to choke her during consensual sex which ‘went wrong.’ The trial lasted three weeks, and the jury returned a verdict of guilty on 22nd November 2019. On the 21st of February 2020, he was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years. Kempson attempted to appeal his sentence, but the Court of Appeal dismissed this.
The ‘Rough Sex’ defence
This defence has colloquially become known as the ‘fifty shades’ defence, which is relied on by men who kill women during or immediately after sexual activity as a defence to murder. It is not an official defence in law, but it causes juries to be sympathetic towards the situation. It has been argued that in many cases, it creates a sense of diminished responsibility – that the defendant was not fully aware of the consequences of their actions. The defence is officially known as the ‘consent defence’ and is used to argue that the ‘actus reus’ of a crime was not fulfilled, as the victim consented to the behaviour, and therefore the act is deemed lawful.
Successfully pleading this defence usually results in a lesser charge of manslaughter, a lighter sentence, or the death not being investigated as a crime at all.
Campaign group ‘We Can’t Consent To This’ started as a response to Grace’s murder, and to the increasing numbers of women and girls killed and injured in violence that is claimed to be consensual. Their research shows that since 2016, the ‘rough sex defence’ was successful in 7 of the 17 killings of a woman which reached trial, where the defendant was either found not guilty or received a manslaughter conviction.
The Domestic Abuse Bill was first introduced in 2019 to “support all victims of domestic abuse.” It includes provisions that banned the rough sex defence, as it rules out “consent for sexual gratification” as a defence for causing serious harm to a person.
During Grace’s trial as Kempson attempted to use this defence, her cousin Hannah O’Callaghan stated that it was “truly horrendous” to have to “listen to his lies” during the court case. She also stated that it made her feel as though “Grace was on trial, but unable to defend herself” which this defence allowed for in these cases. In response to the defence, her family stated that they were hopeful that “no other family has to go through” what they did with their daughter and that it would “stop men” from pleading this defence, “knowing it will get them a lesser sentence.”
Grace’s family have also started an initiative in her memory, ‘Love Grace x’ to offer support to victims of domestic abuse.
Comentarios