Last Wednesday afternoon, I was pleased to speak at an event in Westminster, which was hosted by Diana Parkes, mother of Joanna Simpson, who was brutally attacked by her husband, Robert Brown, at the family home and bludgeoned to death by a claw hammer in October 2010.
Following the attack, which took place whilst their young children were at home, Brown, a former British Airways Pilot, went on to bury Joanna’s body in a pre-dug grave in Windsor Great Park.
Brown admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility and was jailed in May 2011 for 26 years. He is due to be released in November having served half his sentence.
Diana Parkes, Mother of Joanna, has appealed directly to Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab to keep Brown in prison as he would be classed as a ‘critical public protection case’ and is deemed to pose an extremely high risk of serious harm.
The reception was organised by the Joanna Simpson Foundation, a charity that Diana Parkes helped to create to ‘transform the care, support, and protection of children affected by domestic abuse and homicide.’
I spoke at the reception about the importance of protecting the public and the role of the law, and following the reception, I have urged the Government to publish and respond to the domestic Homicide Review that I commissioned as Justice Secretary in 2021.
There needs to be better protection for the millions of people who experience domestic abuse, and the government must use its powers to strengthen measures to tackle perpetrators.
I spoke in Parliament last week about the importance of good law-making, and the work of the Law Commission of England and Wales. The Sentencing Code, which is now in force as a result of legislation that was passed when I was Lord Chancellor, is a clear example of good law reform. This reform simplified over 1,3000 pages of complicated and overlapping law, which previously occupied the statute book on sentencing and made it difficult for judges to apply the law consistently, causing unnecessary delays to the justice process.
The sentencing code has ensured that there is greater clarity in sentencing law, reducing the number of errors made, whilst improving the efficiency of sentencing hearings.
Other examples of good law reform include the Fraud Act 2006, and the Care Act 2014. There are clear benefits to good law reform; it protects citizens and saves resources, it can also ensure that new technology is better and more safely used, as well as ensuring that environmental protections are in place to ensure sustainable growth. Good law can lead to improvements in wellbeing and welfare by opening up opportunities and helping to improve health outcomes. Good law is clear and streamlined, it reduces inefficiency and increases predictability, which is great for businesses and investors, both in the public sector and individually.
I am pleased that the Government has unveiled a new centralised website, targeted at helping businesses across the UK, including those here in Swindon.
The new “Help to Grow” site is aimed at upskilling both big and small businesses across the country by helping them to learn new skills, reach more customers and boost business profits. You can find the new website here https://helptogrow.campaign.gov.uk/
Finally, my charity of the week is Wiltshire Search and Rescue, a voluntary specialist search and rescue team, which exists to find vulnerable and missing people.
Based locally, volunteers are trained to the UK Lowland Rescue National Standards and fulfil the same role as Mountain Rescue, Coastguard Rescue, and the RNLI. They work closely with all the emergency services in Wiltshire and support neighbouring Search and Rescue teams. Volunteers from WILSAR are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
To find out how you can support Wiltshire Search and Rescue, or to learn more about volunteering, please visit https://www.wilsar.org.uk/fundraising/
