Mother of murdered teenager Ellie Gould calls for tougher sentences

Mar 26, 2023

The mother of murdered teenager Ellie Gould wants killers who use excessive violence or strangle their victims to face a minimum sentence of 25 years.

Ellie was strangled and stabbed to death by her former boyfriend Thomas Griffiths at the Goulds’ family home in Wiltshire in May 2019, when both were 17.

He strangled her and stabbed her 13 times in the neck, then arranged the scene to make it look like she had inflicted the fatal wounds herself.

Griffiths was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years and six months in prison for killing her.

Mrs Gould told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “My husband came home in the afternoon and found his beloved daughter in a pool of blood on our kitchen floor.

“It’s horrendous and the sentence for that is 12-and-a-half years, 12-and-a-half years for the brutal murder of our precious daughter.

“That is the justice system when it comes to violence against women and girls.

The government this month announced plans for killers with a history of coercive or controlling behaviour against their victims to face tougher sentences.

It said the use of excessive of gratuitous violence, sometimes referred to as “overkill”, is also set to be made an aggravating factor in sentencing decisions for murder.

Mrs Gould said she believed Griffiths got the sentence he did in part because “murders in the home are seen as a lesser crime – it doesn’t matter how violent they are, they’re diminished”.

She said the government’s plans do not go far enough.

“What we want and we will be asking (Justice) Minister (Edward) Argar to consult on is a 25-year starting point for overkill and for strangulation because we have to remember that this is very much gendered violence, and it’s just not being recognised in the courts how dangerous these perpetrators are.”

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