Narrating domestic abuse when women kill: lessons from Jackson

One of the most significant developments in relation to domestic abuse has been the emergence of the ‘coercive control’ framework and the enactment of a specific criminal offence thereof at s76 Serious Crime Act 2015. The recent Jackson case was an important opportunity to see whether and how this framework, and the enactment of s76, would inform the operation of the partial Loss of Control defence as set out in s54 Coroners’ and Justice Act 2009. In this article, I argue that, in its ruling in Jackson, the Court of Appeal has failed to take the opportunity to draw on the increasingly mainstreamed framing of domestic abuse as climatic and continuing and to promote this framing when women kill abusers. The article provides a timely contribution to conversations here, given the Law Commission’s current review into the use of defences in domestic homicide cases. It argues for an alternative approach, contra Jackson, whilst we await the outcome of this review. It ultimately concludes that, regardless of this outcome, domestic abuse should be narrated to juries in a way which foregrounds coercion as its underpinning dynamic. By framing the abuse as continuous control, women’s entrapment in the relationship is better captured. In turn, the jury is better equipped to understand an accused’s actions in cases where abused women kill.