The mother of a woman who murdered her boyfriend is hoping the conviction can be changed after a decision that saw another woman – Sally Challen – go free.

Emma-Jayne Magson, 25, stabbed James Knight after a drunken row in March 2016 and was convicted of murder in Leicester eight months later.

Magson had not told emergency services about the stabbing.

She was sentenced to 17 years in prison but has been allowed to appeal.

Joanne Smith said her daughter acted in self-defence, describing it as a “terrible night that went wrong”.

She told Sky News: “When she stabbed James he walked away and went to his brother’s house. He never told him he was stabbed and there was no blood.

“Emma didn’t realise until too late, and when it was too late his brothers were there and she is not going to confess in front of his brothers. She was scared.”

On Friday, Sally Challen was released after more than eight years in prison for the 2010 murder of her husband Richard.

The 65-year-old’s legal team successfully argued she was the victim of years of sustained psychological and emotional abuse and a psychiatric report found she was suffering from mental illness at the time of the attack.

Her murder conviction was reduced to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and, because of the time she had already served in prison, she was released immediately.

The decision has set a precedent for domestic violence cases and could pave the way for other abused women to challenge their murder convictions.

Ms Smith has followed Ms Challen’s campaign and is hopeful the justice system will listen to her daughter’s case.

“It was very emotional,” she said of Friday’s ruling.

“Emma rang me on Friday night and said she had seen Sally’s case.

“I’m hoping that Emma’s murder charge is dropped and at the very most it’s a manslaughter charge, though I don’t think it is, because I believe that Emma was in a situation that night when it was her or him.”

Human rights lawyer Joel Bennathan QC, from Doughty Street Chambers, described the case as a landmark.

He said: “The importance of this campaign is not that it changes the law but, through a combination of argument in court and publicity out of court, the Crown Prosecution Service have done what they should have done before – which is to accept that, if an abused woman kills, very often it should be seen as an offence of manslaughter and not an offence of murder.”

Justice for Women, which supported Ms Challen’s campaign, said it is working on 10 similar cases, including that of Magson.

They are currently waiting for a date for her appeal.

Source: Read Full Article