Fifty+ Femicides

Every Friday I will write about women in mid or later life who have been killed by a man they are personally connected to. If you do not want to read this content please unsubscribe to the Visible Women Newsletter.

In last week's edition I wrote about 6 women aged 50 & above were killed by men in the month of July 2019. That was 1 woman aged 50 and above, every 5 days during that month. I was astonished by this figure so I looked at the same month in the previous year and what I read was even more shocking.

In July 2018, 11 women aged 50 and above were killed by men.

7 of these women were killed by men they were either in a relationship with or by their own sons.

These killings are known as Domestic Abuse Related Deaths formerly known as a Domestic Homicides.

Shuren Ma 72, was found with a critical head injury and died at the scene by police who had been called to a disturbance. Her partner, attacked her in their home in Woolwich, by striking her repeatedly over the head with a rolling pin and by stabbing her repeatedly in the chest and abdomen. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

Judy Constant 62, was found at a property in Marlborough Road, Islington. A post-mortem found she had suffered blunt force trauma. Her son, who was a history of domestic violence against his former partner, was arrested in July 2018 and later convicted for his mother's manslaughter in 2023. He received a life sentence with a minimum term of nine years and four months.

Lynda Myers 54, was stabbed to death by her son, he admitted killing his mother pleading diminished responsibility. He was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to nine years and four months imprisonment. Her 14-year-old son, who was also stabbed by his brother, he survived the attack.

Patricia Franks 86, was killed through blunt force trauma and strangulation by her husband, at their home in Stockport. His defence was her diagnosis of advanced dementia. The media reported this as a 'mercy killing'. We don't know Patricia's story. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility and received a two-year suspended prison sentence.

Lesley Davies 81, died in hospital after being attacked by her partner in the street outside her home in Cornwall. She was pushed to the ground and stamped on. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was given an indefinite hospital order.

Sheila Thomas 69, was found dead with stab wounds at her home in South London. She had been bludgeoned with a piece of wood and stabbed by her husband, at their home in Herne Hill, South London. It is reported that Sheila had suffered years of domestic abuse at the hands of her husband and she had told him she wanted to separate. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment.

Stephanie (Stevie) Packham 64, was killed by her husband, at their home in Sittingbourne. He cut her throat and then tried to kill himself, but failed. His defence was that she had dementia and it was a joint suicide pact. We don't know Stevie's story. He was found guilty of manslaughter and given a 2-year suspended sentence.

*Information has been taken from a variety of media reports, DHR (when published) and the Counting Dead Women Project.

I intentionally do not use the killers name.