October 5, 2026
Zoë Chapman and Francesca Kirby examine proposed reforms to domestic homicide sentencing in a Long Read article for Solicitors Journal, asking whether increasing minimum terms will correct an existing injustice or risk creating new disparities.
The piece highlights three key issues:
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The current minimum terms prescribed by Schedule 21 of the Sentencing Act 2020, which are 25 and 15 years respectively depending on whether an offender takes a knife or other weapon to the scene intending to use it, or uses a weapon found at the scene. In domestic homicide cases, that difference can have significant consequences.
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The Government’s proposed reforms which would introduce a 25-year starting point for murders of a partner or ex-partner involving a weapon in the home. The article considers how those changes may operate in practice, including in cases where a defendant has themselves experienced domestic abuse.
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The possibility of further sentencing distinctions emerging, for example between partner killings and other domestic or familial homicides or between domestic cases involving weapons and those involving methods such as strangulation.
Zoë and Francesca explore how these reforms may affect the consistency and structure of sentencing in domestic homicide cases, and the questions that remain as the law develops.
Read the full article: Rethinking sentencing for domestic homicide – Solicitors Journal
